HM Treasury

Treasury: Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of the office space owned or leased by his Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such office space; and if he will place in the Library a copy of his most recent departmental real estate valuation.

Harriett Baldwin: Holdings of real estate are assessed as either being required to deliver departmental functions (forming the Core estate) or surplus to this requirement (Non-Core). There is no system for classifying frequency of use. The government's top priority for surplus holdings is to reduce property costs by exiting leasehold agreements, selling freeholds or by sub-letting to external tenants. We have a portal - Find Me Some Government Space (https://www.gov.uk/find-government-property) – for more efficient marketing of surplus land and buildings. This is searchable by developers, community groups and the general public.   It is considered not to be in the public interest to disclose real estate valuation reports, as this information can be commercially sensitive and any disclosure could adversely affect the Government’s future ability to negotiate efficiencies and achieve value for money to the taxpayer. However, the value of HM Treasury’s land and buildings is available in its annual report and accounts, which is accessible on www.gov.uk.

Corporation Tax

Stewart McDonald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the amount in corporation tax lost to the Exchequer through evasion in each financial year since 2010.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs published its latest tax gap estimates on 16 October 2014 in 'Measuring Tax Gaps' 2014 edition.

Treasury: Directors

Lucy Powell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many non-executive directors of his Department who were in post before May 2015 have since left the Department's board; what the names and length of tenure of such directors were; and how many and what non-executive director appointments he has made since May 2010.

Harriett Baldwin: The information requested is set out in HM Treasury’s Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which are available in the Library of the House.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Richard Burden: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the cost and benefits of (a) converting Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) into a network of local stakeholder banks, (b) breaking up RBS into a series of challenger banks, (c) converting RBS into a state-owned business bank and (d) other options for the future of RBS considered by his Department; and if he will place a copy of any such assessments in the Library.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government has been consistent and clear that its objective in respect of RBS ownership is to return the bank to the private sector in full.   This policy is supported by recent advice from the Governor of the Bank of England that “it is in the public interest for the Government to begin now to return RBS to the private sector”, and that “there could be considerable net costs to taxpayers of further delaying the start of a sale”. The findings of the recently published Rothschild report into the Government’s shareholding in RBS concur with this assessment.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Richard Burgon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral statement by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury of 11 June 2015, Official Report, column 1373, what the evidence base is for his statement that the Royal Bank of Scotland has not been able to play its full part in small and medium-sized enterprise lending because of public ownership.

Harriett Baldwin: The Chancellor has previously set out his objectives for the banks in state ownership, including Royal Bank of Scotland. We want to maximise the ability of these important banks to support the British economy, and we want to get the best value for money for the taxpayer.   Large scale public ownership has an inhibiting effect on the involvement of private institutions in a company such as RBS, and therefore naturally impacts on broader commercial performance. The best way to deliver our objectives is to return RBS to private ownership. Commercial organisations are more efficient, more innovative and more effective when they are in the private sector.   This policy is supported by advice from the Governor of the Bank of England and independent analysis from Rothschild investment bank. In their recent report into this issue, Rothschild note that by starting to sell down its stake in RBS, “the Government can bring about broader benefits for the institution, which could help to accelerate its recovery”, as well as improving the share price and securing value for the taxpayer.

Income Tax: Tax Allowances

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to reinstate the full personal tax allowance for individuals earning in excess of £100,000 per year.

Mr David Gauke: The government inherited a taper system withdrawing the personal allowance for those on incomes above £100,000 from the Labour government.   The government has also inherited the largest deficit in post-war history due to unsustainable increases in government spending by the Labour government and the effects of the financial crisis. Because of this exceptional challenge we have been unable to remove the personal allowance taper to date. The government’s focus has been on helping low and middle income earners.   However, the government has committed to raising the higher rate threshold to £50,000 by the end of this parliament. This will lower taxes for middle and high income earners as it will increase the point before individuals start paying 40% income tax. The government wants to reduce the amount of income tax that people pay and rewarding those who want to work hard and progress.

Welfare Tax Credits: Northern Ireland

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse was of (a) working tax credits and (b) child tax credit for claimants in Northern Ireland in each year since 2010.

Damian Hinds: HM Revenue and Customs does not publish figures for Working Tax Credits or Child Tax Credits broken down by region.

Banks

Jim Shannon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) the Royal Bank of Scotland and (b) Ulster Bank on steps to assist with any potential future problems with their critical infrastructure.

Harriett Baldwin: The failure of IT infrastructure at Royal Bank of Scotland, or any other bank on which customers rely to manage their money, is completely unacceptable. Responsibility for infrastructure in the UK financial sector is primarily for the firms themselves. However, financial regulators have a role to play in supervising, coordinating and driving change to improve the operational resilience of the sector.   The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) jointly launched, in October 2014, a review of firms’ critical infrastructure and technology resilience. The review focuses on the most significant UK retail deposit-taking organisations, and is expected to conclude later this summer. The results will not be published, but the FCA and PRA will provide feedback to the firms individually on their findings and agree any follow-up actions.

Pensions

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the forthcoming consultation on a charge cap for savers withdrawing their money from pensions will include a proposal for a charge cap on income drawdown products.

Harriett Baldwin: The government announced on 17 June that it will launch a consultation to look at making the process for transferring pensions from one scheme to another quicker and smoother, including, if there is sufficient evidence, options to address excessive early exit penalties. The Financial Conduct Authority will, in parallel, gather information from pension providers to establish an evidence base for action in this area. This is part of a wider programme of action by government and regulators to ensure that consumers can take advantage of the new pensions freedoms, introduced in April.

Working Tax Credit

Steve McCabe: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2015 to Question 228908, if he will make it his policy to collect data on the length of time taken to process working tax credit claims.

Damian Hinds: HMRC do not plan to collect data on the length of time taken to process Working Tax Credit claims.

Interest Rates

Jim Shannon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Governor of the Bank of England on the likelihood that interest ratios will remain at their present level.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK’s monetary policy framework, set out in the Bank of England Act 1998, gives operational responsibility for monetary policy to the independent Monetary Policy Committee. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has frequent discussions with the Governor of the Bank of England on a wide range of issues relating to the UK economy.

Self-employed

Justin Madders: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of savings accruing to the Exchequer from changes in the level of self employment in the last three years.

Mr David Gauke: No such estimate has been made.

Taxation: Conferences

Stewart McDonald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will discuss with his international counterparts the prospects for organising an international fair tax summit.

Mr David Gauke: The UK is at the forefront of multilateral action through the G20 and the OECD to reform the international tax rules.   The UK used its Presidency of the G8 to successfully build international support for a common template for Country-by-Country reporting of tax and other financial information to tax authorities, which we have legislated to implement in line with the international agreement. We continue to play a leading role in the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project to ensure that profits are taxed where the economic activities that give rise to them are located.   We are also actively engaged in discussions within the EU on tax transparency and ways the EU can build on OECD work in order to ensure a coherent and effective international approach to these issues.

Fuels: Excise Duties

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for cross-border loss of revenue in Northern Ireland of changes in the level of fuel duty in his preparations for the Budget in July 2015.

Damian Hinds: The government is committed to reducing revenue loss due to fuel duty fraud and HM Revenue and Customs works closely with the Revenue Commissioners in the Republic of Ireland and others to fight fuel fraud on a wide range of fronts.

Defence: Expenditure

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) NATO, (b) the OECD and (c) the UN on the definition of (i) defence expenditure and (ii) official development expenditure; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: The Treasury has not had any recent discussions with NATO, the OECD or the UN on the definition of Defence expenditure. NATO publishes its own definition of Defence Expenditure and the UK categorises defence spending fully in accordance with these guidelines.   The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee is responsible for the definition of official development assistance (ODA) and produces guidance on detailed aspects of this. The UK is a member of the Development Assistance Committee and UK officials attend regular technical meetings.

Sixth Form Colleges: VAT

Peter Kyle: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will amend the VAT status of sixth form colleges so that they are treated the same as academies, free schools, university technical colleges and schools.

Mr David Gauke: I refer the Rt Hon Gentleman to my comments during the Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday 17th December 2013.

Prime Minister

Radicalism

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Prime Minister, what the evidential basis was for his statement that British Muslims quietly condoned extremism made at the Global Security Forum in Bratislava on 18 June 2015.

Mr David Cameron: I refer the hon. Member to the speech I gave on 18 June 2015, a transcript of which can be found on the gov.uk, in which I say that “if you’re a troubled boy who is angry at the world, or a girl looking for an identity, for something to believe in and there’s something that is quietly condoned online, or perhaps even in parts of your local community, then it’s less of a leap to go from a British teenager to an ISIL fighter or an ISIL wife, than it would be for someone who hasn’t been exposed to these things”.

Offences against Children

Ann Coffey: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to the hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds, what the (a) objectives, (b) remit, (c) membership, (d) start date and (e) report date are of the task force chosen by the Secretary of State for Education; and whether he plans to publish the conclusions of that taskforce.

Mr David Cameron: I refer the hon. Member to the press release issued by my office on 24 June 2015, which can be accessed via the gov.uk website.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Torbay

Kevin Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to further roll out the Universal Credit programme in Torbay constituency in 2015-16.

Priti Patel: The national roll out of Universal Credit is on track. Torbay is part of our Tranche 4 roll out schedule which runs from December 2015 to April 2016. I enclose a link to overall roll out and expansion plans:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/414937/universal-credit-national-expansion-tranche-three-and-four.pdf

Personal Independence Payment

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment assessment appointments failed to take place as a result of double booking of appointments between 2010 and 2015.

Justin Tomlinson: Since Personal Independence Payment was rolled out from April 2013, 2,134 claimants have been sent home because the number of claimants attending scheduled appointments exceeds expectations. This represents 0.4% of the total number of claimants seen. This information is sourced from Atos and Capita Management Information records and has not been quality assured.

Universal Credit

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the Government has spent on developing and rolling-out universal credit to date; and how much of that amount has been spent on (a) computers, (b) consultants and (c) legal fees.

Priti Patel: The amount spent on the development and roll out of Universal Credit is shown on page 32 of the Universal Credit at Work report, October 2014, attached.   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368805/uc-at-work.pdf   Included within this total is £350m on IT, £16m on Consultants and £3m on legal Fees. Information on expenditure up to the end for 2014/15 will be available once the Department’s Annual report and accounts are approved.

Social Security Benefits: Cancer

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will create a cancer care and support allowance for those who have been diagnosed with cancer and are either undergoing or awaiting treatments.

Priti Patel: The Government has no plans to create a separate cancer care and support allowance as provisions for cancer patients are already available within Employment and Support Allowance. Employment and Support Allowance provides financial help to people awaiting, receiving, or recovering from any form of chemotherapy or radiotherapy for cancer while they are unable to work.

Children: Maintenance

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Support Agency cases reviewed as part of the ongoing closure programme have been closed by his Department to date.

Priti Patel: As at 31 May 2015, 24,100 cases have been closed as part of the Child Support Agency case closure programme.  Notes:Figure rounded to the nearest 100.The figure is made up from cases proactively selected for case closure, and those where an application has been made to the 2012 scheme and a case exists on the 93/03 scheme which is then reactively closed down.

Children: Maintenance

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications to the 2012 statutory child maintenance scheme made since January 2015 have been from parents whose previous Child Support Agency (CSA) case was shut down as part of the phased CSA case closure programme.

Priti Patel: Approximately 3,800 applications made to the 2012 child maintenance scheme between the 01 January 2015 and 31 May 2015 were made by parents who previously had a case with the Child Support Agency, which was closed as part of the case closure programme. This is broadly in line with our current planning assumptions at this early stage of the case closure process.

Welfare Tax Credits

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of removing tax credits on child poverty in Hove.

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of removing tax credits on in-work poverty in Hove.

Priti Patel: The Government’s commitment to make savings from the welfare budget was set out in its election manifesto. Further details will be announced in due course.

Home Office

Home Office: Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of the office space owned or leased by her Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such office space; and if she will place in the Library a copy of her most recent departmental real estate valuation.

Karen Bradley: While holdings are not classified against frequency of use, 0.34% by area of the Home Office’s office estate can be assessed as not in regular use with an estimated rental value of £125,000 per annum. It is all leased with no retail element and is surplus for disposal. The office estate has been significantly rationalised since 2010 with the priority given to exiting leasehold buildings or sub-lettings to non-Home Office occupiers. The Department fully supports the Governments’ Strategic Land and Property Review which is expected to release land worth £3.5 billion by 2020.

NHS: Surcharges

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what calculation was made to set the figure of £200 for the Immigration Health Surcharge.

James Brokenshire: In setting the amount of the charge, the last Government considered the range of health services available without charge to migrants, the valuable contribution migrants make to our country and the need to ensure that the UK remains an attractive destination for global talent.Taking these factors into account, the Government set the charge at £200 per annum, per migrant (with a discounted rate of £150 per annum for students). This is well below the average per capita cost to the NHS of treating temporary migrants. It is also below the rate that migrants might expect to pay for health insurance in our competitor countries. An Impact Assessment published in October 2013 (entitled ‘Regulating migrant access to health services in the UK’), provides further detail.

Chlorine Dioxide

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to ensure that the police investigate and charge people who promote or sell chlorine dioxide for consumption by children.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 25 June 2015



Chlorine dioxide is not an illegal substance. However, it can be harmful especially if consumed and particularly in the case of children. The police are required to investigate any threat to the safety and wellbeing of a child. This includes any harm caused by the administration of a potentially noxious substance.

Immigration: Commonwealth

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from Commonwealth countries who entered the UK in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15 remained for more than a year without permission.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people from Commonwealth countries who entered the UK in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15 remained for more than a year without permission and remain in the UK.

James Brokenshire: It is not possible accurately to quantify the number of immigration offenders in the UK accurately as, by their very nature, those that deliberately evade immigration control to enter and stay in the country illegally are not officially recorded until they come to light and are arrested.Exit Checks were introduced on 8 April 2015 on all scheduled commercial international air, sea and rail routes. Over time, these checks will improve our ability to identify individuals who have overstayed.

Immigration: Olympic Games 2012

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who came to the UK to (a) take part in and (b) spectate at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games have (i) remained in the UK illegally, (ii) applied for or been granted asylum and (iii) been granted another form of legitimate leave to remain.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not keep a running record of those who came to the UK to spectate at the Olympic Games. Close to 70,000 records of individuals who were accredited by LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games) have been investigated, however. These individuals were subject to immigration control. This would include athletes, coaches, sponsors, etc. but these records do not include those who came merely to watch the Games.At the time of the investigations, 82 of those 70,000 individuals had claimed asylum (of which 52 have been granted) and 50 had not returned but were in possession of another form of legitimate leave.

Overseas Students

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy not to classify overseas students as immigrants.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 29 June 2015



The UK welcomes the brightest and best to study in our country. There is no cap on the number of non-EU students who can study at our world-class institutions. The UK has an excellent offer for international students, and as a result remains the second most popular destination for international higher education students. The latest figures show that in the year ending September 2014 there was a 4% increase (to 179,390) of full time non-EU new entrants to UK Higher Education Providers.Published Home Office immigration statistics record data on all people coming to the UK or remaining here who are subject to immigration control. This includes all non-EU students. All migrants who are in the UK for 12 months or more have an impact on our communities, infrastructure and public services.International students are also included in net migration statistics that are produced by the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS). In line with the internationally agreed UN definition, these statistics define a migrant as someone changing their normal place of residence for more than a year. Students are therefore included in the same way as other migrants. Other countries, such as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand also include students in their net migration figures.The ONS estimates that in 2014, 135,000 non-EU students came to Britain to stay for more than 12 months, but only 44,000 left the UK. This is a difference of 91,000. Several thousand of those who stayed have switched into skilled work, and we welcome the skills that they bring. However, many more over stay and do not leave when they should and is an important component of net migration. The Government is considering what further measures may be appropriate to address this issue.

Stowaways

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many stowaways have been recorded travelling into the UK by aeroplane in each of the last five years.

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many stowaways have been recorded travelling into Heathrow Airport by aeroplane in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: There is one recorded instance of a surviving stowaway travelling into Heathrow airport and across the UK by aeroplane, in the last five years.All other cases are a matter for the police. The Home Office does not hold this data

Offenders: Deportation

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national prisoners have sought to challenge a deportation decision under the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights since 2010.

James Brokenshire: The Immigration Act 2014 makes it easier to remove people from the UK and harder for individuals to prolong their stay with spurious appeals, by reducing the number of grounds on which from 17 to 4, stopping those who want to cheat the system by abusing the court process.Our new non-suspensive appeal powers came into force in July 2014, meaning we can deport criminals before their appeals are heard. These provisions save UK taxpayers the cost of ongoing immigration detention and prevent foreign criminals from reoffending in the UK. More than 1,000 foreign national offenders have been removed under the new 'deport first, appeal later' powers and many more are going through the system.The number of appeals lodged under the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights is not held centrally and can only be collated at disproportionate costs.

Knives: Greenwich and Woolwich

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many incidents of knife crime were recorded by the Metropolitan Police in Greenwich and Woolwich constituency in each year since 2007.

Mike Penning: The Home Office collects information on the number of offences involving a knife or a sharp instrument recorded by the police for selected offences.The selected offences are attempted murder, assault with injury, assault with intent to cause serious harm, robbery, threats to kill, sexual assault, rape and homicide.The data are collected at police force area level only, so data are not available for Greenwich and Woolwich constituency. Combined data for the selected offences are in the following table for the Metropolitan Police force area for 2007/08 to 2013/14.Data for 2007/08 are not comparable with later years due to differences in the offence types covered in the collection.Knife and sharp instrument offences recorded by the Metropolitan Police1, 2007/08 to 2013/14YearTotal selected offences 2 2007/08310,015 2008/0912,309 2009/1012,610 2010/1113,341 2011/1214,170 2012/1311,375 2013/1410,064 1. Police recorded knife and sharp instrument offences data are submitted via an additional special collection. Other offences exist that are not shown in this table that may include the use of a knife or sharp instrument. 2. Selected offences covered are attempted murder, assault with injury, assault with intent to cause serious harm, robbery, threats to kill, sexual assault, rape and homicide. See below for information for 2007/08. 3. The 2007/08 figure is not comparable with later years due to data being collected for some different offence codes. The figure displayed for 2007/08 is for the following offences: attempted murder, wounding with intent to do GBH, wounding or inflicting GBH(i.e. without intent), robbery of business property and robbery of personal property and homicide.

Police: Pensions

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will issue guidance on the definition of on duty with regard to police officers' widows and widowers pensions.

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on parity between Great Britain and Northern Ireland with regard to police officers' widows and widowers pensions.

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on pensions for police officers' widows and widowers; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 29 June 2015



In the Budget on 18 March, the Chancellor announced that widows, widowers and surviving civil partners of police officers who have died on duty in England and Wales will no longer lose their survivors’ benefits in future if they remarry, form a civil partnership or cohabit. These pensions will not be re-instated for those who have already lost them through remarriage or cohabitation, though current rules already allow re-instatement if the 'new' relationship ends.Changes will be limited to those deaths which have occurred whilst on duty. The Home Office will consult the Police Advisory Board for England and Wales (PABEW) shortly on proposals to implement this change and this will include the definition of “on duty”.As policing is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and Scotland, the Northern Ireland Executive and Scottish Government respectively are responsible for the design and funding of police pensions in those parts of the United Kingdom. The Government has a continuous duty to ensure that public service pensions are affordable, sustainable and fair, both for the members of those schemes and for other taxpayers.

Illegal Immigrants

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many notifications the UK Border Agency received relating to people detained by police who were found to be in the UK illegally in the last 12 months for which figures are available; how many such notifications were acted on; and how many such notifications resulted in the UK Border Agency taking into custody the person in question for deportation or other enforcement action.

James Brokenshire: The UK Border Agency was abolished in March 2013. The Home Office is not able to provide the specific information requested as we do not record police notifications by immigration status.

National Security

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the current threat level in the UK; and if she will make a statement on how, and over what period, she intends to reduce that threat level.

Mr John Hayes: The threat to the UK from international terrorism is SEVERE, reflecting developments in Syria and Iraq. We are taking action against ISIL overseas. Almost 800 UK personnel are directly contributing to the anti-ISIL coalition, including through training for security forces, air support and work to restrict ISIL’s funding and networks. The Prime Minister recently announced an additional 125 troops to join those already training Iraqi Security Forces. The UK has also provided £800 million to the humanitarian relief effort in Syria. We are also tackling the threat at home, including through £130m of additional Counter Terrorism funding announced in November to tackle the threat from Syria and Iraq. During the last financial year, over three hundred people were detained on suspicion of terrorism offences. The police are securing the removal from the internet of around 1,000 pieces of unlawful terrorist-related content every week.The Counter Terrorism and Security Act came into force earlier this year and included new powers to disrupt the ability of people to travel abroad to engage in terrorism-related activity and to control their return to the UK. We will also introduce an Investigatory Powers bill which will ensure that our legislation governing this work is modern and fit for purpose. We are continuing to work to stop people being drawn into terrorism through our Prevent work. This includes building partnerships with communities, as well as working with local authorities, schools and prisons, all of whom are now subject to a statutory duty requiring them to have regard to preventing people being drawn into terrorism.

Electronic Tagging: West Yorkshire

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have a voluntary GPS tag in West Yorkshire in the most recent year for which information is available; and what assessment she has made of the effect on offending levels of wearing such a tag; and what the source of that data is.

Mike Penning: We are aware that a number of police forces use voluntary tagging as part of their local Integrated Offender Management arrangements. These are local arrangements, and information on the numbers who voluntarily agree to wear a tag is not held centrally.

Refugees: Syria

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the status is of the Syrian refugee Raja Khouja and her husband Mahmoud Alhassan who are due to be deported to Saudi Arabia on 25 June 2015; and what her policy is on the deportation of individuals to countries which use the death penalty.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 29 June 2015



The Home Office does not routinely comment on individual cases. Where legally permissible we will deport foreign nationals to countries with the death penalty, provided the individual will not face the death penalty when they return.

Independent Police Complaints Commission

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the capacity of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) to hold the police to account pursuant to its obligations under Section 1.5 of the IPCC Home Office Framework Agreement.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of whether the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is capable of fulfilling the role set out for it in Section 1.7 of the IPCC Home Office Framework Agreement.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of whether the Independent Police Complaints Commission has adequate resources to fulfil its statutory duty on investigating serious and sensitive cases.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the number of serious and sensitive cases investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission in the last five years.

Mike Penning: The Home Office is confident that the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has the capacity to deliver its core functions and continues to be resourced adequately to deliver its expansion. The IPCC met its targets with regards to taking on a higher caseload in 2014/15 and is on course to meet its targets this year.In February 2013, the Home Secretary committed to allocate further resource to the IPCC to allow it to investigate all serious and sensitive cases involving the police. This will be delivered as part of a wider change programme due to be completed by the end of 2017. In addition to the IPCC’s core budget, £18 million was allocated for this expansion in 2014/15 and £30 million for this year. Funding for future years will be determined in discussion with the IPCC.The IPCC reports on its performance annually to Parliament. This report contains statistics on the number of investigations carried out each year. The IPCC’s annual reports can be found in the Library of the House.

Police: Torfaen

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many serving police officers there were in Torfaen constituency on (a) 6 May 2010 and (b) 7 May 2015.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not hold the requested data centrally. The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the police workforce at police force area level, but not at parliamentary constituency level.

Metropolitan Police

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of Metropolitan Police time was spent on the front line in each year since 2008.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 29 June 2015



The Home Office does not hold information centrally on the proportion of police time spent on the front line.The Home Office does collect police officer functions data, which is used by HMIC to calculate the number of operational frontline police officers in each police force area. These figures (and information on visible police officers) are published from 2010 onwards as part of the ‘Valuing the Police’ inspection programme, which can be found at: http://www.hmic.gov.uk/data/valuing-the-police-data/. These figures relate to each officer’s predominant function over the year, rather than the proportion of their working time.According to HMIC figures, as at 31 March 2015, 91% of Met police officers’ predominant function over the year was on the front line.

Metropolitan Police

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers were recruited by the Metropolitan Police Service in each year since 2008; and what proportion of such officers were (i) female and (ii) black and minority ethnic.

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of the Metropolitan Police Service were (a) female and (b) black and minority ethnic in each year since 2008.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 29 June 2015



Table 1 shows the number of police officers recruited by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), and the proportion that were female or black and minority ethnic (BME) for each financial year from 2007/08 to 2013/14.Table 2 shows the proportion of the total MPS workforce that was female or BME at the end of each financial year from 2007/08 to 2013/14.Police officers recruited by the Metropolitan Police Service, 2007/08 to 2013/141,2,3 Metropolitan Police   Percentages Total number of recruits (FTE) FemaleBlack and minority ethnic2007/081,736 29132008/092,631 31132009/101,980 30152010/11432 27162011/121,498 27162012/13187 24202013/142,343 3016Source: Home Office Notes1. Includes transfers from other England and Wales forces but does not include staff returning after a period of secondment.2. This table contains full-time equivalent (FTE) figures that have been presented to the nearest whole number.3. Breakdowns by ethnicity are not regularly published; they have not been verified by police forces and should be treated as provisional. Total police officer joiner figures, by police force area, rank and gender are published each year in the 'Police Workforce, England and Wales' (previously titled 'Police Service Strength, England and Wales') statistical publications which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-wales.

Refugees: Syria

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which local authorities have agreed to take refugees under the resettlement programme for the most vulnerable Syrian refugees programme; and how many such refugees will be taken by each such authority.

James Brokenshire: A number of local authorities already participate in the scheme and several more have expressed an interest in participating. As the scheme is based on vulnerability, including women and children at risk, people with medical needs and survivors of torture and violence, it would not be appropriate for us to release details of where individuals are currently being placed or where they may be placed in the future, as this may undermine their privacy and recovery.

Passports: Children

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will allocate more resources to speed up the processing of applications for UK passports for British children born (a) overseas and (b) in areas of conflict.

James Brokenshire: Her Majesty’s Passport Office has increased the number of staff processing passport applications made overseas by 36% since last summer. Staff deal with both adult and child applications from all countries so increased resources benefit all customers. In May 2015 99.9% of straightforward applications to renew a child’s passport were processed in 4 weeks from receipt of the application and 99.9% of straightforward applications for a child’s first passport were processed in 6 weeks from receipt of the application.It is recognised that the time taken can be substantially longer in non-straightforward cases (e.g. in unstable countries affected by conflict or where a particularly complex assessment to verify British nationality must be made). Processing times will vary due to reliance on authorities overseas to authenticate supporting evidence or the logistical difficulties encountered in arranging interview locations and obtaining missing supporting documents from customers. We work with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to address the needs of customers in emergency situations but must also ensure that the integrity of the British passport is protected as we do so.

Dalai Lama

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional security arrangements have been made to ensure the safety of His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his visits to the UK this year.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the risk posed to the Dalai Lama by Shugden followers and other organisations based in the UK who have signalled their intention to disrupt his overseas public engagements.

Mr John Hayes: The Home Office does not comment upon matters of personal protective security or disclose any information relating to threat or risk assessments that underpin any security arrangements.

Child Sexual Abuse Independent Panel Inquiry

Mr David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress the Goddard Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has made in its work; how many meetings it has had; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: The Inquiry is independent of the Government and it is for the Inquiry to report on the progress of its work. Regular updates are posted on the Inquiry’s website.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Government

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when the historical files on the conflict in Northern Ireland will be handed over to the Historical Inquiries Unit; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: Holding answer received on 25 June 2015



The Stormont House Agreement is clear that the UK Government will make full disclosure to the Historical Investigations Unit. As set out in the Queen’s Speech, the Government is committed to bringing forward legislation in this session to implement the new bodies to deal with the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland. The Historical Investigations Unit will be established after the legislation is enacted, and work is ongoing to ensure that, once established, the Unit receives relevant files as promptly as possible.

Homicide: Loughinisland

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when she last met the Minister for Justice in the Northern Ireland Executive and the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to discuss the police investigation into the Loughinisland massacre on 18 June 1994; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: Holding answer received on 25 June 2015



I meet regularly with the Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland and the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to discuss a range of issues.I understand the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland is currently investigating the police response to the 1994 attack in Loughinisland.

Unemployment: Young People

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent progress the Government has made on reducing youth unemployment levels in Northern Ireland.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: Youth unemployment in Northern Ireland has fallen by 1.1 percentage points over the year, from 20.0 per cent in February-April 2014, to 18.9 per cent in February-April 2015.The Government has abolished employer National Insurance Contributions for under-21 year olds from April 2015 making it cheaper for businesses in Northern Ireland to employ young people.As part of our long term economic plan, the Government is also reducing the largest structural deficit in UK peacetime history. This is essential to deliver a sustainable economic recovery to assist young people to get job opportunities in Northern Ireland.

Administrative Scheme for the "On the Runs" Independent Review

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, on how many occasions since its formation after the publication of the Hallett Report into the administrative scheme for On the Runs on 17 July 2014 has her Department's implementation team met; and who attended each such meeting.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: The OTR Policy Oversight Board has met on 8 occasions since 17 July 2014.The Board is chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), Sir Jonathan Stephens. Representatives from the Northern Ireland Office, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Public Prosecution Service (NI), Department of Justice, Home Office, Attorney General’s Office and NIO Legal Advisers have attended meetings of the Board.

Police: Firearms

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what proportion of appeals she has received from retired police officers on decisions by the Firearms Branch of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to withdraw their personal protection weapons were successful in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: No appeals have been received by my Department in the last five years from retired police officers following the decision by the Chief Constable to withdraw a personal protection weapon.

Department of Health

Department of Health: Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the office space owned or leased by his Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such office space; and if he will place in the Library a copy of his most recent departmental real estate valuation.

Jane Ellison: The proportion of office space owned or leased by the Department and not in regular use is 0.66%. Rental information is commercially sensitive and would adversely affect Her Majesty’s Governments future ability to negotiate efficiencies and achieve value for money to the taxpayer. As this is a leasehold property, we do not have the retail value of the office space.   The Department has not undertaken a recent valuation of its real estate.   On 31 March 2014, only 2.4% (204,327 sq m) of space was vacant across the mandated Civil Estate, compared with the national private and public sector average of 8.8%   The Department continues to review its estate in order to reduce costs. The Department has adopted a policy of co-locating with other organisations and most of the buildings it is responsible for contain a number of our arm’s length bodies. It also looks to reduce property costs by exiting leasehold agreements, or by sub-letting to external tenants.   The Department has contributed to the Government’s Strategic Land and Property Review. Departments have already committed to reforms expected to release land worth £3.5 billion between 2015 and 2020, with a further £1.5 billion expected to be identified following the outcome of operational reviews. This was updated at Autumn Statement, with a new ambition of £5 - 6 billion.   The Government Property Unit has created a portal - Find Me Some Government Space (https://www.gov.uk/find-government-property) - for more efficient marketing of surplus land and buildings. This is searchable by developers, community groups and the general public.   Further information on the efficiency and sustainability of property in the government's civil estate is published in our State of the Estate Report 2013 - 2014 available here:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-estate-2014

Depressive Illnesses: Diagnosis

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to improve the diagnosis of depression at GP surgeries when the patient has not presented with that condition in the first instance.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve access to talking therapies.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure at least one mental health specialist is on duty at each Accident and Emergency unit at all times.

Alistair Burt: Spending on mental health is estimated to have increased by £302 million in 2014/15, with total mental health spending rising from £11.362 billion in 2013/14 to £11.664 billion planned in 2014/15, an increase of 0.6% in real terms. In the planning requirements for 2015/16, commissioners were required to invest additionally in mental health in line with their increase in allocation. The total planned additional spend is £376 million, an increase of 4.5%.   The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme aims to help adults with common mental health conditions, including anxiety and depression, to recover using a range of psychological therapies or “talking therapies” recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in their clinical guidelines. These include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Interpersonal Therapy, Brief Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy, Couple Therapy for depression and counselling for depression. The national roll out of the IAPT programme began in 2008.   In the spending review period 2010-2015 the IAPT programme received over £460 million of government investment.   The NHS Mandate for 2015/16 and ‘Achieving Better Access to Mental Health Services by 2020’ included the commitment to introduce the first access and waiting times for mental health in 2015/16. This was accompanied by a £120 million investment – an investment of £40 million new money in 2014/15 to lay the groundwork for introducing the standards, and £80 million in 2015/16 that will be released out of existing NHS England budgets. One of the standards is that 75% of people referred to the IAPT programme will be treated within six weeks of referral, and 95% will be treated within 18 weeks of referral.   Achieving better access to mental health services by 2020 published in October 2014, set the expectation that, by 2020, all acute trusts will have in place liaison psychiatry services for all ages appropriate to the size, acuity and specialty of the hospital, including in Emergency Departments. Liaison psychiatry services see mental health staff working alongside acute hospital staff including in Emergency Departments. NHS England is supporting this aim by targeting £30 million investment in 2015/16 to enable a greater number of acute hospitals to establish effective models of liaison psychiatry.   The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) is the annual reward and incentive programme detailing GP practice achievements. A number of mental health indicators are included in the QOF. It rewards practices for the provision of quality care and helps to standardise improvements in the delivery of clinical care. The mental health indicators help to drive improvements in the care and monitoring of patients with depression, bipolar disorder, psychoses and other mental illnesses.   NICE published the guideline Depression in adults: The treatment and management of depression in adults in October 2009. The guidance recommends that healthcare professionals be alert to possible depression, particularly in people with a past history of depression or a chronic physical health problem with associated functional impairment. It also recommends that they consider asking people who may have depression two pertinent questions about their well-being in the past month. If a person answers ‘yes’ to either of these questions then the practitioner should either review the patient’s mental state and associated functional, interpersonal and social difficulties themselves or refer the patient to a competent mental health assessor to do so.

Tuberculosis: Midlands

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will establish a regional TB outreach service based in the Midlands.

Jane Ellison: The Collaborative Tuberculosis Strategy for England 2015-2020 has identified the need for provision of specific and targeted national outreach interventions to help tackle tuberculosis (TB) in under-served populations. Proposals to create this national plan will be developed in conjunction with relevant stakeholders. The specific details of these national service developments are in progress and the location of any regional TB outreach service is not yet confirmed.

Tuberculosis: Health Services

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the timetable is for the establishment of a national TB outreach service.

Jane Ellison: Work is currently underway with relevant stakeholders as part of the Collaborative Tuberculosis Strategy for England’s implementation process, to develop proposals for creating a national tuberculosis outreach service as soon as possible.

Tuberculosis: Birmingham

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the mobile x-ray unit for diagnosing tuberculosis in under-served populations will next visit Birmingham.

Jane Ellison: The mobile x-ray unit for diagnosing tuberculosis in underserved populations is visiting Birmingham week commencing 20 July 2015 for five days. During this period the unit will screen underserved populations in Birmingham, Sandwell and Dudley.

NHS Trusts: Performance Standards

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many hospital trusts were in special measures in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.

Ben Gummer: Following the publication in February 2013 of Robert Francis’s report into care at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, Sir Bruce Keogh led a review of 14 trusts that had high mortality rates. The Keogh Review identified significant problems relating to quality and safety and/or leadership in all of these trusts and in July 2013, the decision was taken to place 11 trusts into ‘special measures’. Special measures is a robust and targeted regime agreed between the Care Quality Commission, Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority.   A total of 14 trusts were placed in special measures in 2013. In 2014 an additional four trusts entered special measures and six trusts exited the regime.   To date a total of 21 trusts have been placed in special measures and seven have exited the regime, having shown notable improvements. We believe that special measures is an effective way of confronting poor care and improving performance, often in hospitals that had shown significant issues including before 2010."

Out of Area Treatment: Scotland

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people resident in Scotland are registered with a GP in England.

Alistair Burt: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS: Surcharges

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the Immigration Health Surcharge on employment in the NHS.

Alistair Burt: The Department does not hold any information on the effect of the Immigration Health Surcharge on specific sectors of the United Kingdom workforce, including the National Health Service.

Patient Choice Schemes

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to promote the use of the Choose and Book system.

George Freeman: The NHS e-Referral Service replaced the previous electronic system, Choose and Book, on 15 June 2015.   The NHS England Operations Department, with the support of the Health and Social Care Information Centre will take the lead in promoting this service in the future, supporting local health communities to increase their use of the service and providing training, advice and reports to help them become fully electronic.

Locums: Qualifications

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the revalidation of all full-time locum doctors is carried out by framework suppliers.

Ben Gummer: Locum agencies on the Crown Commercial Services Framework Agreement are identified as designated bodies under The Medical Profession (Responsible Officers) (Amendment) Regulations 2013. To comply with these regulations, framework agencies must appoint a responsible officer and fulfil the obligations and provisions of the legislation.   A statutory duty of a Responsible Officer is to submit a recommendation to the General Medical Council (GMC) about the fitness to practise of all doctors in the organisation, taking into account guidance set by the GMC. A requirement for being included on the Framework Agreement is that the revalidation of all full-time locum doctors will be carried out by the framework supplier.

Health: Screening

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Public Health England Marketing Strategy 2014 to 2017, published in July 2014, what discussions he has had with Public Health England about the progress of its work to trial mechanisms for improving screening uptake; and whether improving cervical screening uptake will form part of that trial.

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Public Health England Marketing Strategy 2014 to 2017, published in July 2014, what discussions he has had with Public Health England about whether its plan to develop marketing campaigns to drive earlier diagnosis will include a focus on raising awareness of cervical screening across the UK.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England’s (PHE) priority is to continue to raise public awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer through the Be Clear on Cancer campaigns and to encourage people with those symptoms to see their general practitioner promptly. PHE is looking to understand and address inequalities in screening participation. A national workshop will be set up in the autumn to explore and share current knowledge and devise an action plan. The United Kingdom National Screening Committee has also commissioned an evidence review on inequalities.   The Advisory Committee on Cervical Cancer will be reviewing the results from the Strategies to increase cervical screening uptake at first invitation (STRATEGIC) trial, an on-going trial to identify and implement key innovations to help encourage uptake in young women who are entering the NHS Cervical Screening Programme at the age of 25. Further work will investigate the offer of self-sampling to non-attendees of all ages in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme.

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will support Cervical Screening Awareness Week.

Jane Ellison: We were fully supportive of Cervical Screening Awareness Week from 15 to 21 June 2015.   It is important that women realise that cervical screening can prevent cervical cancer and we encourage women of screening age (25 to 64) to make an informed decision to attend when invited for screening.   Departmental officials regularly meet with Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust to discuss cervical cancer issues, including Cervical Screening Awareness Week. In addition, I spoke with the Chief Executive of Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust following Cervical Screening Awareness Week to reflect on how the week had gone and on future challenges.

Carers: Mental Health

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of trends in the rate of mental ill health of carers in the last five years.

Alistair Burt: The Department does not routinely collect data on the mental health status of carers. Therefore, we are unable to provide trend data on the rate of mental ill health among carers for the past five years.

NHS: Disclosure of Information

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that whistle-blowers in the NHS remain anonymous.

Ben Gummer: The Department of Health funds a freephone, independent whistleblowing helpline service, which has set out guidance on whistleblowing for health and social care organisations.   In addition the Department for Business Innovation and Skills issues whistleblowing guidance for employers.   Both of these documents set out advice and best practice to employers in regard to whistleblowers’ wishes for confidentiality or to remain anonymous when whistleblowing.   The Department of Health remains committed to ensuring that the National Health Service supports whistleblowing and wishes to see a culture in the NHS where whistleblowers feel able to come forward and raise genuine concerns in the public interest about patient safety without fear of repercussion or reprisal. This is why the Department commissioned Sir Robert Francis QC to lead the Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) review into creating an open and honest reporting culture in the NHS. Following the publication of the FTSU report in February the Department ran a public consultation on a package of measures arising from the recommendations, principles and actions set out in the FTSU report. The consultation response is due to be published shortly.

Hereditary Diseases: Screening

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the annual cost to the NHS is of providing screening for (a) sickle cell disease, (b) cystic fibrosis, (c) congenital hypothyroidism, (d) phenylketonuria, (e) medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency, (f) maple syrup urine disease, (g) isovaleric acidaemia, (h) glutaric aciduria type 1, and (i) homocystinuria (pyridoxine unresponsive) (i) in total and (ii) on average per each test delivered; and how many such tests were undertaken in the latest year for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: Data on the annual cost to the National Health Service of providing screening for sickle cell disease (SCD), cystic fibrosis (CF), congenital hypothyroidism (CHT), phenylketonuria (PKU), medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD), maple syrup urine disease (MSUD), isovaleric acidaemia (IVA), glutaric aciduria type 1 (GA1) and homocystinuria (pyridoxine unresponsive)(HCU) are not held centrally.   From Public Health England data, the following number of tests were undertaken in England in 2014/15:Number tested for PKUNumber of babies tested for CHTNumber of babies tested for CFNumber of babies tested for MCADDNumber of babies tested for SCD  England673,328673,233671,120672,107668,117   No data is available for MSUD, IVA, GA1A and HCU as screening was not routinely offered until January 2015.

Department of Health: Directors

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many non-executive directors of his Department who were in post before May 2015 have since left the Department's board; what the names and length of tenure of such directors were; and how many and what non-executive director appointments he has made since May 2010.

Jane Ellison: No Non-Executive Directors have left the Department’s board since May 2015.   Since May 2010 the following Non-Executive Directors have been appointed: Catherine Bell, Chris Pilling, David Heymann, Gerry Murphy, Mike Wheeler and Peter Sands.   Details of their appointment (including dates of appointments) can be found in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts each year which are available at the following links:   Annual Report and accounts 2010-11 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/215448/dh_130154.pdf -   Annual Report and accounts 2011-12 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/212977/23735_HC-66-DoH.pdf   Annual Report and accounts 2012-13 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/229996/Annual_Report.pdf   Annual Report and accounts 2013-14 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335166/DH_annual_accounts_2013-14.pdf   Details of how Non-Executive appointments are made can be found in the Code of Practice on Corporate Governance in Central Government Departments.

Out of Area Treatment: Wales

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people resident in Wales are registered with a GP in England.

Alistair Burt: As of 2 June 2015 (the most recent information available), there were 14,724 patients resident in Wales and registered with an English general practitioner practice.   (Source: National Health Applications and Infrastructure Services (NHAIS) system via Health and Social Care Information Centre)

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of trialling HPV vaccinations for men who have sex with men in a small number of GUM clinics as part of a wider cost-effectiveness evaluation.

Jane Ellison: It is the role of the independent expert body, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), to provide advice on vaccination programmes following consideration of evidence, including on the cost effectiveness of immunisation strategies.   In June 2015 the JCVI human papillomavirus (HPV) subcommittee met to consider a revised impact and cost effectiveness assessment by Public Health England on a targeted HPV vaccination programme for men who have sex with men (MSM). This revised consideration took into account comments from an independent peer review and a stakeholder consultation. The results of a small pilot study (unpublished) that was conducted in North West London on the feasibility and acceptability of a vaccination programme for MSM were also used to inform the revised assessment.   The JCVI is due to consider the results of the HPV Subcommittee meeting at its October 2015 meeting, when it is anticipated that the Committee will be in a position to finalise its advice to the Department on an HPV vaccination programme for MSM.

NHS Trusts: Recruitment

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that the use in recruitment of Master Vendor by health trusts does not reduce the level of competition for vacancies in those trusts.

Ben Gummer: Trusts in the National Health Service are independent employers and it is for them to decide how best to recruit and deploy their staff to deliver services to patients in the most efficient and effective way.   My Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, announced on 2 June 2015 a series of controls to reduce the level of agency costs in the NHS and these measures include ensuring agency staff are procured from framework agreements that have been competitively tendered to comply with European Union procurement legislation.

Cancer: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that appropriate cancer drugs are prescribed for cancer patients with diabetes and that the use of inappropriate drugs for such patients is eliminated.

George Freeman: Appropriate drugs for the treatment of cancer should be prescribed as part of a wider pathway of care coordinated by a multidisciplinary team. This should include specialists in other relevant long term conditions such as diabetes.   Because of the possibility of complex interactions with drugs for different conditions, the multi-disciplinary team should also have access to advice from an experienced cancer pharmacist.

Plastic Surgery

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many unsuccessful cosmetic surgery operations have had to be corrected by further surgery in the NHS in each of the last five years.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to regulate cosmetic surgery providers.

Ben Gummer: Information data on the number of unsuccessful cosmetic surgery operations requiring further corrective surgery in the National Health Service is not held centrally.   In April 2013, the independent Review of the Regulation of Cosmetic Interventions, chaired by Sir Bruce Keogh, was published. A copy has already been placed in the Library.   We fully accept the principles of the Keogh review and the overwhelming majority of the recommendations. The response looks to strengthen standards through better training and robust qualifications, and explores how far supervision from regulated professionals might support self-regulation of the sector.   Departmental officials are working with key delivery partners including the Royal College of Surgeons, who have set up an inter-specialty committee to ensure standards for cosmetic surgery. The College is also working with the General Medical Council on a code of ethical conduct. Health Education England is leading on a review of training for providers of non-surgical interventions, such as botulinum toxin and dermal filler injections.   Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, all cosmetic surgery providers who provide a regulated activity have to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fall. The CQC has a wide range of enforcement powers that it can use if a provider is not compliant with the fundamental standards of care.

Bacterial Diseases: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the likely timescale for making new drugs available on the NHS to treat Klebsiella infections.

George Freeman: We have made no such estimate.   In July 2014, my Rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced an independent Review on Antimicrobial Resistance to look at the full range of issues associated with the development, use and regulation of antibiotics. The Review is consulting with a wide range of international stakeholders including the pharmaceutical industry. The Review is looking at the antimicrobial drugs pipeline and will recommend actions that can be taken globally to stimulate the development of new drugs. New antibiotics for Gram-negative bacteria such as Klebsiella are a priority as these infections can be difficult to treat.

Prescription Drugs: Costs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with (a) university research and development departments and (b) pharmaceuticals companies on reducing the cost of NHS-prescribed medicines.

George Freeman: Regular discussions take place with a full range of stakeholders concerning both the pricing of branded medicines and accelerating patient access to innovative medicines.

Malaria: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the likely timescale for making the new compound for the treatment of malaria discovered at Durham University available on the NHS.

George Freeman: The Department is not aware of any such compound being discovered at Durham University for malaria treatment.

Drugs: Misuse

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to reduce the use of non-prescribed medication.

George Freeman: With proper support from health professionals, such as pharmacists and general practitioners, non-prescribed medicines like Pharmacy (P) or General Sale List (GSL) medicines available ‘over the counter’ play a significant role in helping people take more responsibility for their own health.   This allows the National Health Service to focus its resources on treating more complex conditions and make better use of busy emergency and urgent care services and general practitioners’ time and expertise.   Medicines should always be obtained from a registered community or internet pharmacy or other reputable retail outlets.

Abortion: Congenital Abnormalities

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many abortions have been carried out after a blood test showed a disability in the foetus in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: This information is not available.

Agency Nurses

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was budgeted for employing agency nurses by (a) NHS England and (b) London North West Healthcare NHS Trust in the last two financial years.

Ben Gummer: NHS England is a commissioning organisation and does not hold budgets for agency nursing staff. Spending on agency nursing staff is incurred by specific provider organisations.   London North West Healthcare NHS Trust has not made specific budgetary provisions for agency nursing in the last two financial years.

Suicide

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he next plans to update the National Suicide Prevention Strategy; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Whilst the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England is under constant review, there are no immediate plans for its update. However, the Department works with partners across Government and other expert stakeholders to monitor and implement the Strategy. A copy of the Strategy can be found on the gov.uk website at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/suicide-prevention-strategy-for-england   The Department publishes an annual report on the Strategy which summarises the latest trends, evidence and developments in suicide prevention in England. The second annual report on the Strategy was published in February 2015. A copy of the annual report can be found on the gov.uk website at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/`suicide-prevention-second-annual-report

Skin: Diseases

Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many instances of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis have been reported in each of the last five years; and in how many of those cases were (a) paracetamol, (b) codeine and (c) other drugs were assessed to be the cause.

George Freeman: Reports of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are collected by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Commission for Human Medicines (CHM) through the spontaneous reporting scheme; the Yellow Card Scheme. The scheme collects ADR reports from across the United Kingdom on all medicines, including those from prescriptions, over-the-counter or general retail sales. Reports are also received for herbal medicines and other unlicensed medicines. Reporting to the Yellow Card Scheme is voluntary for healthcare professionals and members of the public, there is also a legal obligation for pharmaceutical companies to report all serious ADRs for their products that they are made aware of.   There is an unknown and variable level of under-reporting to the Yellow Card Scheme meaning that data collected cannot be used to calculate incidence. We are unable to calculate this because neither the total number of reactions occurring in the population, nor the number of patients using the drug is known.   Up to 22 June 2015, the MHRA has received a total of 262 UK spontaneous suspected ADR reports of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and 135 UK spontaneous suspected ADR reports of Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2014.   The table below shows the total number of UK spontaneous Stevens-Johnson Syndrome ADR reports received by the MHRA between 1 January 2011- 22 June 2015 associated with paracetamol, codeine and all other drugs.   YearParacetamolCodeineOther drugs not containing paracetamol or codeine2011005020123050201300682014006520150026   The table below shows the total number of UK spontaneous Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis ADR reports received by the MHRA between 1 January 2011- 22 June 2015 associated with paracetamol, codeine and all other drugs.   YearParacetamolCodeineOther drugs not containing paracetamol or codeine201100192012004320131*1*26201401362015009   *Refers to a case with co-codamol, so appears in both columns   It is important to note that Yellow Card reports are not proof of a side effect occurring but only a suspicion by the reporter that the medicine may have caused the side effect. Yellow Card reports may therefore relate to true side effects of the medicine, or they may be due to coincidental illnesses that would have occurred in the absence of medicine.

Skin: Diseases

Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS staff are aware of the symptoms and treatment of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis.

George Freeman: There are between 6,000 and 8,000 recognised rare diseases and an estimated 1 in 17 people will be affected by a rare disease at some point in their lifetime. The Government continues to work hard to raise awareness of, and take action on, rare diseases.   In 2013, the Department published the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases. As part of its implementation, the Department has funded the production of two videos on rare diseases, the first from the viewpoint of the patient and their family and the second directed at healthcare professionals. The videos can be viewed on the Department’s website at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/rare-diseases   The Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, Dr Gina Radford, a rare disease champion, raises the profile of rare diseases and their importance in healthcare planning. The Department is also working with Public Health England which is leading the establishment of the first UK Rare Disorders Register. This will eventually register all cases of rare disease in the United Kingdom.   British National Formulary publishes guidance on Stevens Johnson Syndrome, including details of specific genetic testing.

Cancer: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what arrangements he plans to make to ensure that cancer patients have access to essential treatments after the closure of the Cancer Drugs Fund.

George Freeman: Since it was established, the Cancer Drugs Fund has helped over 72,000 people in England to receive the life-extending cancer drugs that would not otherwise have been routinely available to them.   This Government has committed to continuing to invest in the Fund.

Hearing Aids: North Staffordshire

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of whether North Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group's (a) evaluation of clinical evidence and (b) patient engagement relating to its decision to restrict the provision of NHS hearing aids from 1 October 2015 is compliant with (i) the NHS constitution and (ii) the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with North Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group on that Group's decision to restrict the provision of NHS hearing aids from 1 October 2015.

Alistair Burt: A search of Departmental records has confirmed there have been no discussions with North Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on its decision to restrict the provision of National Health Service hearing aids from 1 October 2015.   The provision of hearing aids is a matter for local commissioners and is based on the needs of the local population.   As such it would be for NHS England, within its routine assurance processes, to assess whether North Staffordshire CCG was in breach of its duties, or was considered likely to breach its duties in this matter.

Cancer: Drugs

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the Cancer Drugs Fund panel will next meet to discuss the appraisal of new medicines.

George Freeman: NHS England has advised that the Cancer Drugs Fund panel expects to meet next on 29 and 30 July 2015.

Hearing Impairment

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects NICE to publish the (a) clinical guidance and (b) quality standard for adult onset hearing loss.

George Freeman: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has advised that the clinical guideline on hearing loss is currently scheduled for development from spring 2016 and anticipates that this will be published in autumn 2018. A quality standard on hearing loss based on the clinical guideline will follow.

Continuing Care

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support his Department offers to commissioning support units to manage backlogs in applications for Continuing Healthcare Retrospective Review claims.

Alistair Burt: The Department does not offer support to commissioning support units (CSUs) in relation to NHS Continuing Healthcare.   Support for CSUs is a matter for NHS England.

Continuing Care

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications for Continuing Healthcare Retrospective Review claims made in each of the last four years have not yet been processed.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of applications for Continuing Healthcare Retrospective Review claims made in each of the last four years have been approved.

Alistair Burt: The Department does not collect this information.   NHS England has a role to be assured of clinical commissioning groups’ duties in respect of NHS Continuing Healthcare.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Department of Business, Innovation and Skills: Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of the office space owned or leased by his Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such office space; and if he will place in the Library a copy of his most recent departmental real estate valuation.

Anna Soubry: The core Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS Core) does not own any freehold office space.Core BIS has 212.34 square metres of vacant office space in Fleetbank House. This space is currently under negotiation to sub-let which will mean all BIS office space is in regular use. This vacant space represents 0.002% of core BIS total office space.

UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2015 to Question 2403, when the UKTI Defence and Security Organisation priority markets list for 2015-16 will be published.

Anna Soubry: The list is expected to be published in the autumn.

Transatlantic Trade and  Investment Partnership

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will ensure that there is a vote in the House before the UK signs up to the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership.

Anna Soubry: The EU-US FTA is expected to be a mixed agreement to which the UK is individually a party. As such, it would be subject to agreement by each Member State (including the UK), the EU Council (representing governments of the EU countries) and the European Parliament. As part of this process, the UK Parliament would receive the complete draft text of the agreement in order to scrutinise it through debates in both Houses.

Students: Average Earnings

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average level of earnings was of a part-time student undertaking undergraduate degree-level programmes in England at the point of becoming eligible for the first time to repay student loans in each of the last five years; and what the source of that data is.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average level of income is of a part-time student undertaking higher education study in England at the commencement of their study; and what the source of that data is.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average level of income is of a part-time student undertaking higher education study in England at the point of their first becoming eligible to repay student loans; and what the source of that data is.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average level of income is of a part-time student of higher education in England 10 years after completion of their course; and what the source of that data is.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average level of income is of a part-time student undertaking higher education study in England at qualification completion; and what the source of that data is.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average level of earnings was of a part-time student undertaking undergraduate degree-level programmes in England at the commencement of study in each of the last five years; and what the source of that data is.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average level of earnings was of a part-time student undertaking undergraduate degree-level programmes in England at qualification completion in each of the last five years; and what the source of that data is.

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the average level of earnings was of a part-time student undertaking undergraduate degree-level programmes in England at 10 years after completion in each of the last five years; and what the source of that data is.

Joseph Johnson: Information on the incomes of part-time students during and after their studies can be accessed through a variety of sources.The Student Income and Expenditure Survey (SIES) 2011/12 measured the income during the academic year[1] from continuous jobs held by part-time students; that is a job that the student had before the start of the academic year and that was likely to continue until after the end of the academic year. The statistics can be found in Table 3.9 at the link below. The next iteration, SIES 2014/15 will be published in early 2016.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/301467/bis-14-723-student-income-expenditure-survey-2011-12.pdfThe Higher Education Statistics Agency’s (HESA) Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) data collection, and their follow-up Longitudinal Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (LDLHE) survey, measures the incomes of part-time graduates six months and forty months (3.5 years) after graduating. The latest statistics are available at the links below:Six-month destinations, Table 6 - www.hesa.ac.uk/sfr217Forty-month destinations, Table 11a - https://www.hesa.ac.uk/pubs/dlhelongStudent Loans for Tuition Fees have been available to part-time students meeting eligibility criteria since the academic year 2012/13. The earliest these borrowers may reach their Statutory Repayment Due Date (SRDD) for their loans is April 2016. After April 2016 Student Loans Company (SLC) statistics on Income Contingent Loan Repayments by Cohort will include part-time borrowers and show how many students are earning in excess of the £21,000 threshold and therefore making student loan repayments. The latest statistics, which refer primarily to full-time loan borrowers, are available in Table 3 at the following link:http://www.slc.co.uk/media/918226/slcsfr012015.pdf [1] Earnings figures refer to the 9 months of the academic year from September to June (and so exclude any earnings in the summer vacation period).

Regional Growth Fund

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2015 to Question 2126, if he will list each of the beneficiaries under the Regional Growth Fund which did not draw down the full amount in each (a) region and (b) Regional Growth Fund bidding round.

Anna Soubry: The Answer to Question 2124 stated that the savings announced on 4 June arise where beneficiaries from RGF Rounds 1-5 had, by mutual agreement, not drawn down the full amount that was made available to them. I am not able to list each of the beneficiaries which did not draw down the full amount as this information is commercially confidential.

Royal Mail

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question 2810, what non-discretionary fees and payments were paid to each of those firms.

Anna Soubry: Rothschild will be paid a fee of £25k for their work on the disposal of the Government’s shareholding in Royal Mail. Each of the banks who executed the Accelerated Bookbuild were paid £1. Freshfields fees for the sale are expected to be around £50k.

Royal Mail

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2015 to Question 1837, when he plans to make a decision on whether the discretionary fee will be paid; what framework he has set for making that decision; and on what consideration it will be based.

Anna Soubry: A decision will be made soon on the payment of the discretionary payment. That decision will be made in the context of the letter of engagement with the banks.

Nuclear Power: Apprentices

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many apprentices have entered the nuclear sector in each of the last five years.

Nick Boles: Information on Apprenticeship starts by Sector Framework since 2002/03 is published online: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/438144/apprenticeships-starts-by-sase-framework.xls

Nuclear Power: Skilled Workers

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to address skills shortages in the nuclear sector.

Nick Boles: There are two employer-led trailblazer apprenticeships standards being developed by and for the Nuclear industry, led by organisations including Sellafield Ltd, Magnox Ltd, the National Skills Academy for Nuclear and many other key employer and bodies in the sector. These new standards will ensure that apprenticeships meet the needs of the nuclear industry and provide the required standards for a successful career in the nuclear sector.   We have also announced development of a national college for the nuclear sector which will provide the specialist high level technical training and skills needed for the nuclear industry and a route to the necessary higher education qualifications.   We have provided £200 million capital investment to improve higher education teaching facilities and £185 million for teaching of high cost subjects such as nuclear engineering.

Regional Planning and Development: North of England

James Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent steps he has taken to promote regional growth and create a Northern Powerhouse.

George Freeman: Rebalancing the economy by creating a Northern Powerhouse is part of our long-term economic plan, to pool its strengths and become greater than the sum of its parts. This could add £44bn to the Northern Economy by 2030, or £1,600 per person living there -in real terms. Our £20 million investment in Health North will make a valuable contribution to these efforts.   Complimenting this, on 1st June my Rt hon Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced proposals for making the Midlands an Engine of Growth. Working with Local Enterprise Partnerships across the Midlands, we are seeking to align investments and devolve decision-making, to create the strongest possible environment for economic growth across the region.

Trade

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what forecast he has made of the contribution of net trade to GDP in the next four years.

Joseph Johnson: The Office for Budget Responsibility make forecasts for net trade and GDP, and will be updating these on the 8th July. Exports and imports made up 28.3% and 30.3% of GDP in 2014. However, trade has wider economic benefits than through net trade, as it indirectly boost growth through increasing competition, innovation and efficiency of UK firms.

Small Businesses

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent support he has provided to small businesses.

Anna Soubry: We help to provide small businesses with access to the finance they need, expert business advice and export support. British Business Bank programmes are supporting £1.8bn of finance to over 40,000 smaller businesses, with a further £1.4bn of finance to mid-cap businesses.   The Business Growth Service provides support to firms with growth potential. Growth Hubs join up local resources to provide local support. And 48,000 businesses have been helped to export through our UK Trade and Investment support – of those, 90% were small businesses.

Students: Finance

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what plans he has to change the terms and conditions for higher education student finance.

Joseph Johnson: I would like to welcome the new hon Member for Ilford North to this House and commend him for his commitment to student welfare as former president of the National Union of Students.   We have and will continue to have a world class HE system.   To deliver our commitment to reduce the deficit, we are reviewing all BIS spend as part of our preparations for the Spending Review. We will ensure the continuing success and stability of our reforms to University funding, so that the interests of both students and taxpayers are fairly represented.

Companies: Standards

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to encourage improvements in corporate governance.

Joseph Johnson: The Government believes high standards of corporate governance promote the trust and confidence in business needed to facilitate trade, investment, prosperity and long-term growth.   In the last Parliament we took significant steps to reform corporate governance including improving corporate reporting and updating the rules on disqualification of directors.   This Government will continue to work to ensure the corporate governance framework fosters trust in UK companies and encourages long-term investment.

Adult Education: Finance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to maintain the adult skills funding budget.

Nick Boles: All future spending decisions will be taken as part of the Spending Review.   In the last 5 years, we have increased funding for apprenticeships whilst cutting the overall level of the adult skills budget as a contribution to deficit reduction.

Employment

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of jobs in the economy which are low-skilled.

Nick Boles: We are focused on increasing the number of jobs at all levels of skill and on investing in 3 million apprenticeships, which will help people to improve their skills and command higher wages.

Technology and Innovation Centres

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent progress Catapult Centres have made on creating opportunities for business in high-profile markets.

Joseph Johnson: Catapult centres are opening up opportunities for companies of all sizes throughout the UK and across sectors from Satellites to Transport, and Energy to Cell Therapy.   My Rt hon Friend the Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise recently opened the new Aerospace Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry – which will create supply chain opportunities in this successful UK sector.   This Government is committed to creating more Catapults to bring further growth to other sectors across the country.

Business

Heidi Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he plans to take to encourage large businesses to trade more fairly with small businesses.

Anna Soubry: The Government is clear that all large companies should trade fairly with small suppliers.   That is why we will shortly consult on proposals to establish a Small Business Conciliation Service to help small businesses resolve disputes.

Ministry of Defence

Hyde Park Barracks: Sales

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the receipts from any sale of Hyde Park Barracks will be retained by the Ministry of Defence.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assumptions are being made about the receipts from any sale of Hyde Park Barracks in consideration of the Ministry of Defence's spending review 2015 settlement; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: No decision has been taken on the future of Hyde Park Barracks.

Defence: Expenditure

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) NATO, (b) the OECD and (c) the UN on the definition of (i) defence expenditure and (ii) official development expenditure; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: None.

Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Project Rose outline business case.

Mark Lancaster: No business case for Project Rose has yet been prepared.Any such business case would be withheld as it's disclosure would prejudice commercial interests, but, of course, would be the subject of the Department's normal approval processes.

Pigs

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many pigs have been shot by his Department in order to replicate battlefield injuries in each year since 2010.

Mr Philip Dunne: Twice a year, members of the UK Defence Medical Services attend the two-day Exercise Surgical Training courses in Denmark, in which live but fully anaesthetised pigs are shot with wounds, which are then treated in real-time exercises by surgical teams, then humanely put down .This training is essential to ensure our medical personnel are ready to carry out potentially life-saving surgery on battle casualties with serious bullet and blast wounds. We use mannequin simulators for as much surgical training as possible, but none of those currently available are sophisticated enough to replicate control of real-time internal haemorrhage from traumatic combat injury.During each two-day course, UK surgical teams will operate on two pigs (one on each day), making a total of four per year. In each year since 2010, the numbers shot are therefore as follows:Year Number2010 42011 42012 42013 42014 42015 2 (as at 26 June)

Ministry of Defence: Annual Reports

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is contained within the category of receipts - personnel, as listed as a form of income in his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14 document; and how much was raised by each component of that category.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is meant by the term receipts - personnel as listed as a form of income in his Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14.

Michael Fallon: A breakdown of the total of personnel receipts shown in Note 6 of the Ministry of Defence's 2013-14 Annual Report and Accounts (HC764 published on 27 November 2014) is attached. 



Breakdown of the total personnel receipts
(Word Document, 30 KB)

Armed Forces: Dogs

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question 2717, in which locations each of the dogs euthanised on the grounds of aged-welfare in September 2014 were euthanised.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question 2717, in which location each of the nine military working dogs euthanized for aged - welfare reasons in September 2014 last worked.

Mr Philip Dunne: This data is not held electronically and it is not reasonably practical to provide this information.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Devolution: England

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government has to devolve powers from central government to people resident in county council areas.

James Wharton: The Government will empower the towns and counties of this country by extending the City Deal programme we ran in the last Parliament to cover counties and towns too. I look forward to discussing proposals from councils and Local Enterprise Partnerships that build on their strengths.

Green Belt

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the report entitled Green Belt Under Development by Glenigan Constructing Insight, dated August 2014, what assessment he has made of the causes of the changes in the number of planning approvals on the green belt over the last five years.

Brandon Lewis: Most planning approvals in Green Belt are non-residential, many in support of agriculture. National planning policy makes clear that most forms of development in Green Belt are inappropriate. Local planning authorities, in consultation with local communities, are in charge of protecting their Green Belt in line with policy in the National Planning Policy Framework. If inappropriate development is proposed, the local planning authority has to determine whether the harm to the Green Belt, and any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations, and whether there are very special circumstances to justify planning permission.

Regional Planning and Development: North of England

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the (a) policy objectives and (b) measurable outcomes are the Northern Powerhouse initiative.

James Wharton: The objective of the Northern Powerhouse and the Government's long term economic plan is to rebalance growth across the regions and nations of the UK. Creating a Northern Powerhouse will enable the Northern Region to reach its potential as a driving force in the UK economy – adding a potential £44 billion to the Northern economy, or £1,600 per person living there (in real terms).

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage councils to implement the zero-carbon home standard from 2016.

James Wharton: The Government considers that energy performance standards for new homes are best set through the national building regulations which were strengthened in 2013. Councils play an important role in checking compliance with these standards.

Communities and Local Government: Directors

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many non-executive directors of his Department who were in post before May 2015 have since left the Department's board; what the names and length of tenure of such directors were; and how many and what non-executive director appointments he has made since May 2010.

Mr Mark Francois: The Department had four Non-Executive Directors in post before May 2015, all four remain in post. The previous Secretary of State, my rt. hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Eric Pickles), made six Non-Executive Director appointments to the Department since May 2010 - see attached table.



Table of Non-Exec Directors
(Word Document, 21.61 KB)

Fracking

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps are being taken to mitigate the noise and sound pollution arising from heavy goods vehicles used in shale gas drilling.

James Wharton: Potential noise impacts created by new shale gas development would be taken into account on a case by case basis by local planning authorities when they determine relevant planning applications, or by the Secretary of State in the determination of planning appeals or called-in applications. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning decisions should aim to avoid noise from giving rise to significant adverse impacts on health and quality of life as a result of new development, and mitigate and reduce other adverse impacts to a minimum including through the use of conditions.

European Regional Development Fund

Mr Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 26 March 2015 to Question 225021, what proportion of funds under the 2007-13 European Regional Development Fund which were committed after May 2010 have not yet been drawn down; and whether he expects the full amount to be drawn down before the September 2015 deadline.

James Wharton: The programme remains fully committed and £838,959,958 has been paid out from the European Regional Development Fund since 1 May 2010 and £526,182,985 remains to be claimed by grant recipients. We have extended some project activity into the autumn to ensure that opportunities to spend remaining funds are maximised by the deadline of the end of December 2015.

Parks

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he plans to launch his programme of pocket parks in towns and cities; and what budget he plans to allocate to that programme.

Mr Marcus Jones: My officials are currently engaged with a number of interested parties, including colleagues in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in working up options as to the possible shape and scope of a pocket park programme. Budgets are yet to be determined.

Food Banks: North West

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what food bank collection points are currently provided by each local authority in the North West.

Mr Marcus Jones: My Department does not hold this information.

Scotland Office

Universities: Student Numbers

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many people go to university in Scotland who are resident in (a) Scotland, (b) England and (c) any other EU country.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not hold this information; however it can be obtained from the Higher Education Statistics Authority at www.hesa.ac.uk.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Scotland

Stewart McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the extension of High Speed 2 to Scotland.

David Mundell: I met with the Secretary of State for Transport on 17 June 2015 to discuss High Speed Rail.

Employment: Scotland

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many people who live in Scotland work in England.

David Mundell: As part of the Scotland Analysis programme, which was completed in 2014, it was calculated that each day, around 16,500 people cross the Scottish border to work in the rest of the UK, while 13,000 people travel the other way.

Department for Transport

Department for Transport: Directors

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many non-executive directors of his Department who were in post before May 2015 have since left the Department's board; what the names and length of tenure of such directors were; and how many and what non-executive director appointments he has made since May 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The two-year appointment of one non-executive, John Kirkland, expired in June. No appointments or re-appointments have yet been made.

Heathrow Airport: Belfast City Airport

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to maintain the current level of connectivity between Heathrow Airport and Belfast City Airport before a decision is reached on additional runway capacity in South East England.

Mr Robert Goodwill: In the UK airports, and the airlines that use them, operate in a competitive, commercial environment. It is for individual airlines make market-based decisions regarding the air services that they operate, and from which airports. It is not open to the Government to compel airlines to operate air services between specific airports.

Great Western Railway Line: Electrification

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by what date he expects electrification of the Great Western Line to Swansea and Valleys Lines in Wales to be completed.

Claire Perry: On 25 June the Secretary of State announced that Great Western was a top priority for delivery.　We are committed to electrifying the Great Western line to Swansea and are contributing £125million to the Welsh Government’s Valley Lines electrification scheme. A huge amount of investment will be going into Wales, in terms not only of the track, but the new trains. The Secretary of State also described some of the challenges Network Rail is facing. That is why he has asked the new chair of Network Rail to develop proposals by the Autumn for how the rail upgrade programme will be carried out.

Great Western Railway Line

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the commissioned Hitachi trains intended for the Great Western Line are able to run on both diesel and electricity.

Claire Perry: The commissioned Hitachi trains for the Great Western line will have two configurations, one running on electric power and a second bi-mode capable of running on either diesel or electric power.

Network Rail

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to devolve Network Rail functions to the Welsh Government; and whether he plans to restructure Network Rail.

Claire Perry: The Government has no plans to devolve responsibilities in relation to Network Rail’s delivery of the current five-year Rail Investment Strategy (RIS). We are working closely with the Welsh Government on the development of options for the next RIS for the period 2019-2024.   There are no current plans to restructure Network Rail.

Transport: Finance

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much of the Challenge Fund has been allocated in each region since that fund was announced.

Andrew Jones: From the £5.8 billion the Department for Transport (DfT) announced in December 2014 to be allocated to local highway authorities in England for highways maintenance between 2015 and 2021, we have allocated £275 million between 2015 and 2017 for a local highways maintenance Challenge Fund for major maintenance projects. We announced on 24 March 2015 those schemes which would receive funding. The allocation by region is shown in the table below.RegionDfT funding £mNorth East24.84North West53.26Yorkshire and the Humber11.23West Midlands50.27East Midlands5.1East19.53South West55.45South East51.87Further information can be found at the following weblink:  http://maps.dft.gov.uk/challenge-fund/index.html  For a selection of schemes, the Department has requested further information from local highway authorities to ensure that they are in a position to proceed. Subject to this, it is expected that the Department would begin to allocate funding to the authorities this summer.

Bus Services: North West

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people were prosecuted by each local authority in the North West for fraudulent use of bus passes since 1 January 2014; and how many bus passes were withdrawn by each local authority because of non-entitlement in that period.

Andrew Jones: Travel Concession Authorities are responsible for administering the national concession consistent with legislation, including ensuring that only eligible applicants are provided with a bus pass. Permits which have expired or been lost or stolen can be “hotlisted” to prevent their fraudulent use on smart-enabled vehicles. However, we do not collect data on prosecutions and permit withdrawals.

Regional Airports: Dundee

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will estimate how many people in the Dundee area benefit from the Regional Air Connectivity Fund.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Dundee has benefited from £2.8 million of financial support from the Regional Air Connectivity Fund to maintain its air link to London through a public service obligation (PSO). The Government assessment of the route is that it would generate £3.9 million worth of benefits over the two year funding period.

London Airports

Jo Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish his Department's assessment of the evidence received in favour of the expansion of either Heathrow or Gatwick airport and the effect on job creation in the North.

Mr Robert Goodwill: To ensure our long term connectivity needs can be met, the previous Government established the independent Airports Commission to identify and recommend to Government options for maintaining this country’s status as an international hub for aviation.Three options for expansion have been shortlisted by the Commission for further consideration and the relevant documents can be found on the Airport Commission website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/airports-commission Following publication of the Commission’s final report with recommendations to Government, we will carefully consider the evidence and set out our plans for taking this forward.

Regional Airports

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs that are supported in (a) Dundee and (b) the UK by regional air connectivity funding.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I refer the Honourable Member to my answer of the 29 June 2015, UIN 4048(http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=4048).

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of the office space owned or leased by his Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such office space; and if he will place in the Library a copy of his most recent departmental real estate valuation.

Mr David Lidington: The majority of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)'s UK office space is always in regular use. Work is currently underway to consolidate our London headquarters into one building in King Charles Street by the beginning of November this year. This will save around £5 million a year in running costs for the FCO and free up the Old Admiralty Building for use by another Government Department. Staff are being moved between King Charles Street and the Old Admiralty Building while refurbishments take place and there is no spare office space in either of these buildings. Once the project is completed, the King Charles Street offices are expected to be fully occupied.Overseas, the FCO runs an estate comprising about 4,800 properties in over 260 locations worldwide. Our portfolio is regularly reviewed to ensure we are getting value for money and maintaining a fit-for-purpose estate.

China: Muslims

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2015 to Question 1570, what commitments he has received from his Chinese counterpart in response to his concerns on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang province.

Mr Hugo Swire: At the UK-China Human Rights dialogue in April this year, we had a thorough discussion of this issue. As a member of the UN Human Rights Council, China is bound to respect the international commitments to which it is a party, including those related to freedom of religion or belief. Freedom of religion or belief is also guaranteed under the Chinese constitution.

EU Reform

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, in what ways the Balance of Competences review on the EU has informed the Government's negotiating position on EU reform.

Mr David Lidington: I refer the right hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East to the answer I gave on 17 June 2015 to PQ1804. The Review received over 2300 evidence contributions from a wide range of groups and individuals and has been commended by the House of Lords. Much of this evidence supports the Government’s EU reform agenda.

Arms Trade: Yemen

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to adopt a comprehensive arms embargo on all parties engaged in military operations in Yemen; if he will encourage the UN Security Council to adopt such an embargo; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: In April, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2216 (2015) which established an arms embargo against individuals or entities engaging in, or providing support for, acts that threaten the peace, security and stability of Yemen as designated by the Committee. We remain supportive of actions being taken to deter the Houthi aggression in Yemen, which came at the request of President Hadi, and believe that a political solution brokered through the UN is the best way to bring long-term stability to Yemen.

Colombia: Human Rights

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Colombian counterpart on human rights abuses of workers of the Esbarbosa ESP water and other services company in Colombia.

Mr Hugo Swire: We will raise this case with the Colombian Embassy. Human rights continue to form an integral part of our dialogue with the Colombian government. Our Embassy in Bogota meets regularly with non-govermental organisations and trade unions and, as appropriate, raises our concerns with the Colombian government. On 5 June, our Ambassador met trade unionists who came to Colombia in a delegation lead by Justice for Colombia.

Colombia: Human Rights

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reason Colombia was included in his Department's Human Rights and Democracy Report 2014, as a country of concern; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire: Colombia was first included in the Human Rights and Democracy Report as a “Country of Concern” in 2001, primarily due to human rights abuses perpetrated by state and non-state actors involved in the ongoing internal conflict. The Colombian government has committed to improving the human rights situation and has made some progress, for example through the creation of the National Protection Unit (NPU). However, significant challenges remain, not least in the number of threats to human rights defenders. President Santos has stated that the most effective way to improve human rights in the country is to make progress on a negotiated peace settlement and we strongly support the efforts of the negotiating team in Havana to achieve this objective.

Serbia

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department provides to Serbia.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provides political and technical support to all countries in the Western Balkans with the aim of promoting greater stability and security across the region, including by encouraging progress towards EU accession. In Serbia, with EU accession negotiations underway, our assistance supports reforms, including public administration, capacity building of the Ombudsman’s Office, anti-corruption and freedom of expression. We also continue to promote the normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

China: Human Rights

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on the human rights situation in that country.

Mr Hugo Swire: We remain concerned by the human rights situation in China, particularly in relation to civil and political rights. As noted in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy (www.hrdreport.fco.gov.uk), the climate for human rights defenders and civil society is very difficult in China, and restrictions to ethnic minority rights continue. We are concerned that individuals continue to be detained for the peaceful expression of their views, and that some detainees are not permitted adequate medical care. We consistently raise our concerns with the Chinese authorities, not least through the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue, last held in April. I raised a number of my concerns with Ambassador Liu Xiaoming earlier this month, and publicly highlighted the range of my concerns on the situation in Tibet during a Westminster Hall Debate on 18 June. We also continue to make representations in international fora such as the UN Human Rights Council.

Hong Kong: Human Rights

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the human rights situation in Hong Kong.

Mr Hugo Swire: The rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong are enshrined in the Basic Law. The Government’s last six-monthly report (1 July – 31 December 2014) published on 26 February set out the UK position on significant issues of interest, including rule of law, freedom of the press and freedom of expression. The report stated that ‘the rule of law in Hong Kong has stood up well to the challenges in the reporting period.’ On press freedom the report stated that, ‘we welcome the statements from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government that they respect and value press freedom, but remain very concerned at the growing number of reports of threats to that freedom, including self-censorship. Freedom of expression is at the heart of "One Country, Two Systems" and is guaranteed in the Joint Declaration.’ We will continue to monitor and report on the rule of law and basic rights and freedoms in the six-monthly reports. The full report can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/six-monthly-report-on-hong-kong-july-to-december-2014.

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons UK-resident EU citizens will not be allowed to vote in the EU referendum; and how many such people will be affected by that decision.

Mr David Lidington: EU citizens, other than citizens of the UK, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus and Malta, are not part of the parliamentary franchise on which the referendum franchise is based. This is an issue of national significance, so it is appropriate that the parliamentary franchise is used.The Office for National Statistics’ Annual Population Survey estimates that the total number of EU citizens (excluding British, Irish, Cypriot and Maltese citizens) resident in the UK was 2,649,000 in the period April 2014 - March 2015.

EU Law

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what effect the 1992 Edinburgh Agreement had on the application of EU treaties in the UK; and whether it is his Department's assumption that the European Court of Justice is obliged to follow the provisions of that Agreement.

Mr David Lidington: The Edinburgh Agreement addressed specific Danish concerns with the Maastricht Treaty. Those parts of the Agreement that remained relevant following the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam were reflected in the EU Treaties by means of a protocol which is binding on the European Court of Justice and on the Member States.

Religious Freedom

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had in the G7 and the EU on steps to reduce threats to religious freedom in Africa and the Middle East.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Government is fully committed to the promotion of freedom of religion or belief and will stand up for the freedom of people of all religions – and non-religious people – to practise their beliefs in peace and safety. The FCO Annual Human Rights Report outlines our position and activities.My officials and I take every opportunity to discuss this critical issue with our European and G7 counterparts. At a global level we work through bodies such as the United Nations to encourage worldwide acceptance of the importance of freedom of religion or belief. At the 27 March UN debate on the persecution of minorities in the Middle East, I called for stronger leadership from governments and communities in the region to continue working for tolerance and reconciliation. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have also represented the UK at international discussions designed to promote closer EU/transatlantic co-operation regarding religion and its impact on global affairs.

Palestinians

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what criteria the Government will use to determine the right time for the UK to recognise Palestine as a state; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK is a longstanding supporter of seeing a sovereign, democratic and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with Israel, and continues to be one of the largest donors to Palestinian state building efforts to that end. We reserve the right to recognise a Palestinian state at a time of our choosing and when it will best help bring about peace.

Andargachew Tsege

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations Ministers in his Department have made to their counterparts in Ethiopia on the detention of Andargachew Tsege.

James Duddridge: I remain deeply concerned by the continued detention of British national Andargachew Tsege in Ethiopia and about his welfare. Over the last year, there have been numerous discussions between the Ethiopian and UK government regarding Mr Tsege. The Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon friend, the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond MP) spoke to the Ethiopian Foreign Minister on 24 June and made a public statement on 25 June. He made clear that Ethiopia’s failure to grant our repeated requests was unacceptable, and informed Dr Tedros that the lack of progress in the case risked undermining the UK’s relationship with Ethiopia. We will continue to press the Ethiopian government for regular consular access, for our concerns regarding Mr Tsege’s welfare to be addressed, and for a clear and transparent legal process through which Mr Tsege can challenge his detention.

Department for International Development

Overseas Aid

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what arrangements are in place to assess the usefulness and effectiveness of the projects her Department sponsors; and what criteria are used in that assessment.

Grant Shapps: Each DFID project fits within the strategic priorities for the Department. Project business cases are rigorously appraised before approval to establish value for money using criteria appropriate for that project and context. During implementation, projects are measured and formally scored annually against a robust monitoring framework to make sure they continue to be effective. Project documentation, including annual reviews, is published on DFID’s Development Tracker.

Central African Republic: Children

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her Department's long-term strategy is to support and protect the most vulnerable children in the Central African Republic; and what steps she plans to take to ensure that her Department has a long-term strategy for its engagement with that country over the next three years.

Grant Shapps: The crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR) has left more than 2.7 million people in need of assistance and has severely affected children. Since 2013, DFID has provided £51 million to address urgent humanitarian needs in CAR and for CAR refugees. Our funds have enabled agencies to support children who have been separated from their families, provided services for girls and boys who have suffered sexual and gender-based violence, reduced malnutrition rates among children, and given children access to education and training. DFID regularly reviews humanitarian priorities in order to ensure that UK Aid is directed where it is most needed, and works closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and wider international community to ensure that long-term strategies are in place to address long-running conflicts and humanitarian crises such as this.

West Africa: Ebola

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent progress her Department has made on tackling ebola in West Africa; and if she will make a statement.

Grant Shapps: The UK’s main objective is to support the Government of Sierra Leone to reach and then maintain zero cases of Ebola as quickly as possible. Huge progress has been made, and it is clear our strategy is working. Case numbers have reduced from a peak of more than 500 in late November 2014, to eight cases in the week ending 21st June 2015. We expect there to be a bumpy tail of cases before zero is reached and so we cannot become complacent. The UK response will continue to adapt as the epidemiology changes, and will remain flexible and responsive until Sierra Leone gets to zero. We are now proactively seeking out cases through enhanced active surveillance, strengthened social mobilisation, and scaling up of contact tracing - all critical in the final mile to reach zero.

Department for Education

Academies

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school academies there were in (i) Cumbria and (ii) England and Wales in (A) 2012-13 and (B) 2013-14.

Edward Timpson: The number of academies in England and Cumbria is shown in the table below.   Number of open academies1 by phase in England2, January 2013 and January 2014Primary Secondary  January 2013January 2014January 2013January 2014(i) Cumbria local authority 12131718(ii) England 1,0061,7891,6381,893   Notes: Including free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools.The figures provided are for England only. The academies policy does not apply to Wales and education policy in Wales is devolved to the National Assembly for Wales.

Hewett School

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times her Department has met (a) Norfolk County Council and (b) the Inspiration Trust to discuss the land on which the Hewlett School sits in Norwich South.

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons she exercised an academy order under section 4 of the Academies Act 2010 in appointing a sponsor for the Hewett School in Norwich.

Edward Timpson: An Academy Order was issued because the Hewett School is a failing school which Ofsted judged to require special measures in October 2014 and has had GCSE results consistently below local and national averages for the past five years. The Academy Order was issued on 25 March after consultation with the central Norwich Foundation Trust. The Government’s policy is to tackle swiftly failing schools wherever they are. We believe that the best way to secure rapid and long-term improvement at the Hewett School is for it to become an academy with the support of a strong sponsor. Inspiration Trust was the named sponsor due to its strong track record of school improvement. The Department for Education and Norfolk County Council meet regularly. Recently the Council’s proposals for a ‘Learning Village’ on the Hewett site have formed part of these discussions. The department has had an initial meeting with the Inspiration Trust to seek their views about the future of the land. A meeting between all three parties is scheduled later this month.

Academies

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how often her Department has made an academy order under section 4 of the Academies Act 2010 in each year since 2010; and in what region each school so affected is based.

Edward Timpson: 5065 local authority maintained schools have been issued with academy orders since May 2010. RSC RegionNumber of Academy Orders approvedEast Midlands & Humber793Lancashire & West Yorkshire480North296North East London & East583North West London & South Central697South London & South East742South West743West Midlands731Total5065   RSC Region201020112012201320142015TotalEast Midlands & Humber2818526616012133793Lancashire & West Yorkshire26128134778629480North127572564140296North East London & East4117510110612139583North West London & South Central482182071246139697South London & South East4322414515212652742South West4724713712712659743West Midlands2714819212913996731Grand Total272140012549318213875065   Not all local authority maintained schools that receive an academy order go on to open as an academy; some withdraw their application and others move out of scope for intervention. In addition, others are still in the pipeline to convert to academy status.

Schools: Radicalism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce the radicalisation of children in schools.

Edward Timpson: My answer of 9 March 2015 to my honourable Friend’s previous question on this subject set out the measures taken by the department to keep children safe from the risks of extremism and radicalisation and prepare them for life in modern Britain. I would also refer my honourable Friend to the government’s response to the Education Select Committee Report: Extremism in schools: the Trojan Horse affair, which was published on 26 June (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/extremism-in-schools-response-to-education-select-committee). This both summarises the existing measures and sets out additional steps to tackle extremism and build the resilience of schools.

University of Chester Academies Trust

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the performance of the University of Chester Academies Trust.

Edward Timpson: We share your concerns about the performance of University of Chester Academies Trust (UCAT). Following his appointment, Mr Pank Patel, Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) for the West Midlands, which covers Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, has met the trust to challenge them on their strategic plans for improvement and has met the new Chair of the Board of Trustees. Officials have visited UCAT academies to review progress and provide robust challenge on their action plans. As a result of these discussions the trust has implemented a number of changes, including introducing a new leadership structure and appointing a CEO. In September, they also appointed a strategic educational improvement partner, St John Plessington Catholic College (SJP), an outstanding academy located in Bebington on the Wirral and the lead in the St John Plessington Teaching School Alliance, to review their systems and introduce the necessary measures to bring about the rapid improvements necessary. This agreement will come to an end in the Autumn term, at which time Fallibroome Academy will be involved in coaching leadership and school improvement. With the introduction of these changes Mr Patel has been reassured that the trust is taking the right steps to build the necessary capacity to ensure that progress is made in each of their academies. Mr Patel and his team will continue to work closely with UCAT to monitor their progress. If rapid and sustainable progress is not made, he will not hesitate to take further action.

Free Schools

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the total held in reserves by each free school.

Edward Timpson: Free schools are independent organisations and hold reserves, both as working capital to manage day-to-day commitments, and to build funds for longer term planning as they cannot borrow commercially.   As at the end of August 2014, the most recent year for which financial statements are available, open free schools - either as single free schools or as part of multi-academy trusts - held revenue reserves, as set out in the attached table. 



Free_School_Reserves_August_2014
(Word Document, 203 KB)

Teachers: Recruitment

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2015 to Question 1083, how much schools spent on recruiting teachers in (a) Sheffield and (b) England in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb: This information is held by individual schools and not by the department centrally.

Teachers: Recruitment

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2015 to Question 1083, how much the Training and Development Agency spent on recruitment in each year from 2010 until it was disbanded in April 2012.

Nick Gibb: The information provided in the table below reflects the main spend on recruiting teachers, by the Training and Development Agency, for the financial years 2010/11 and 2011/12. ITT financial year2010/112011/12  £224,501,000£131,403,000This answer relates to recruitment activities. These figures do not however, include funding for the employment-based routes or Troops to Teacher programmes which paid for the training of teachers and subsidised their employment costs. The department does not hold information on the element of spend relating to employment costs which will vary by school.  A full breakdown of spend for financial years 2010/11 and 2011/12 can be located in the Training and Development Agency’s published annual report and financial statements online: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/229152/0193.pdf

Education: North of England

Jo Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on inclusion of education policy and oversight in the Northern Powerhouse Initiative.

Nick Gibb: The initiative announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer includes £10 million to boost academy sponsorship in the North of England. As the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Education confirmed in February 2015, Regional Schools Commissioners will use this investment to tackle educational disadvantage by: enabling the best local academies to share their excellence in sponsoring underperforming neighbouring schools; developing the capacity of existing sponsors to keep pace with new demands; and harnessing the expertise of some of the very best academy sponsors from across the country.   https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pupils-in-the-north-to-benefit-from-injection-of-expertise   In addition, the devolution deal with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), announced by the Chancellor on 3 November 2014, saw the Secretary of State make a commitment for the Department for Education and other government bodies to work with GMCA to re-commission further education in the city.

Department for Education: Dismissal

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff who have been dismissed from her Department in the last three years were within 24 months of retirement.

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff who have been dismissed from her Department in the last three years were trade union representatives.

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff in her Department have been dismissed in the last three years; how many such staff were (a) disabled, (b) black and minority ethnic, (c) over 50 years old, (d) female and (e) male.

Nick Gibb: Numbers of staff dismissed in each category are shown in the table below. PQ4356 requests information on personal data; in order to protect individuals’ identity, numbers in these categories are rounded to the nearest five and suppressed below five.Within 24 months of retirement0 Trade Union Representatives1 Disabled<5 Black and Minority Ethnic10 Over 50 years old5 Female10 Male5

Sixth Form Colleges: VAT

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the VAT costs incurred by sixth form colleges in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education estimates that VAT accounts for about 3% of sixth form colleges’ expenditure each year.  The Education Funding Agency does not collect financial information from sixth form colleges in such a way that allows us to make a more precise year on year calculation of their VAT costs.

Leader of the House

Public Bills

Phil Boswell: To ask the Leader of the House, how many government bills introduced in each of the last five years have been (a) England, (b) England and Wales, (c) Great Britain, (d) Wales, (e) Scotland and (f) Northern Ireland only in the scope of their provisions.

Chris Grayling: The following figures relate to Bills introduced over the five years of the last Parliament and are based upon the impact of the legislation, rather than their territorial extent. They exclude any minor or consequential impacts.(a) one affecting England only; (b) 13 affecting England and Wales only; (c) two affecting only Great Britain; (d) one affecting Wales only; (e) one affecting Scotland only and; (f) one affecting Northern Ireland only.

Public Bills

Phil Boswell: To ask the Leader of the House, which government bills introduced in each of the last five years the provisions of which have not extended to Scotland.

Chris Grayling: Over the five years of the last Parliament, the Government introduced 20 bills, the provisions of which did not extend to Scotland. It should be noted that this analysis does not include bills containing provisions of a minor or consequential nature.These were as follows:2010-2012Local Government Finance BillAcademies BillCharities BillEducation BillLocal Government BillLocalism BillPolice (Detention and Bail) BillSunday Trading (London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) BillWater Industry (FInancial Assistance) BIll2012-2013Defamation BillJobseekers (Back to Work) Schemes BillMental Health (Approval Functions) Bill2013-2014Criminal Justice & Courts BillHigh Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) BillLocal Audit and Accountability BillNorthern Ireland BillRehabilitation BillWales Bill2014-2015Modern Slavery BillSocial Action & Heroism Bill

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the office space owned or leased by her Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such office space; and if she will place in the Library a copy of her most recent departmental real estate valuation.

George Eustice: Defra offices are assessed as either being required to deliver departmental functions (forming the core estate) or surplus to this requirement (non-core).   Defra's priority for surplus holdings is to reduce property costs by exiting leasehold agreements, selling freeholds or by sub-letting to external tenants. The proportion of Defra office property vacant, held by the Defra property holding centre, as at 29th June is 5.76%.   The actual rental depends on how long the office space would be vacant, making it difficult to calculate, with no rental values held for the freehold office estate.   The Government Property Unit (GPU) has created a portal - Find Me Some Government Space (https://www.gov.uk/find-government-property) - for more efficient marketing of surplus land and buildings. This is searchable by developers, community groups and the general public.

Game: Farms

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many game farms were assessed by the Animal and Plant Health Agency as using un-enriched raised laying cages for partridge breeding pairs in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many visits to English and Welsh pheasant and partridge game farms the Animal and Plant Health Agency made in each of the last five years for which figures are available; how many breaches of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and its Code of Practice for Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes were discovered during those visits; what those breaches were; and what action was taken to address each such breach.

George Eustice: The Animal and Plant Health Agency has made no estimate of the number of game farms using un-enriched cages for partridges. However, four game farms have been inspected as a result of welfare concerns since June 2014. So far only one has resulted in action being taken with a follow-up visit to be undertaken in July 2015. Before June 2014, game farms were not recorded separately from certain other farmed species, so it is not possible to separate out such establishments.

Game: Farms

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of game farms in England and Wales using un-enriched raised laying cages for partridge breeding pairs; and what steps she is taking to prevent such practices.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the study commissioned by her Department in 2009 to provide scientific evidence on whether cage-based breeding for pheasants and partridges can fully meet birds' needs will be published.

George Eustice: No estimate has been made of the number of game farms using un-enriched cages for breeding partridges in breach of the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes. However, four game farms have been inspected as a result of welfare concerns since June 2014. The Defra funded research into cage-based breeding for game birds will be published in due course and will be used to help inform the review of the gamebirds code of practice.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Directors

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many non-executive directors of her Department who were in post before May 2015 have since left the Department's board; what the names and length of tenure of such directors were; and how many and what non-executive director appointments she has made since May 2010.

George Eustice: There have been no changes to Defra Board non-executive directors since May 2015. The Defra Board has four non-executive directors. Information on tenure since May 2010 is set out each year in Defra’s Annual Report and Accounts published at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69583/defra-annual-report2011.pdf   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69588/pb13805-defra-annual-report-2011-12.pdf   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/224329/defra-year-end-accounts2012-13.pdf   https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/336100/defra-year-end-accounts-2013-14.pdf

Flood Control: Portsmouth South

Mrs Flick Drummond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assistance will be provided by her Department for the rebuilding of flood defences in Portsmouth South constituency.

Rory Stewart: Earlier this month Portsmouth City Council (PCC) submitted a business case to the Environment Agency for funding to replace and improve sea defences along the southern coastline of Portsea Island. The case is currently being reviewed by the Environment Agency.

Ammunition

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions officials in her Department have had with (a) the Lead Ammunition Group and (b) the Austrian government on prohibiting the use of lead shot.

Rory Stewart: The Lead Ammunition Group did not include Defra or Food Standards Agency members, reflecting its independent status. Defra has had no discussions with the Austrian Government on this matter.

Squirrels: Diseases

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce levels of pox in red squirrels arising from garden feeders.

Rory Stewart: The Government participates in and supports the Red Squirrels Northern England partnership, which has produced guidance against supplementary feeding of red squirrels in gardens where grey squirrels are present to reduce the risk of transmission of squirrel pox virus to red squirrels from grey squirrels.   Furthermore, there is a wider package of Government actions being undertaken to protect red squirrels from the impact of grey squirrels, including the squirrel pox they carry. This includes grant aid, through the English Woodland Grant Scheme, for grey squirrel control in red squirrel areas.

Eels

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve eel habitats.

George Eustice: Steps being taken to improve eel habitats and measures are set out in the UK’s Eel Management Plans. The Plans are available via:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-freshwater-fisheries/2010-to-2015-government-policy-freshwater-fisheries#appendix-1-increasing-eel-stocks   In England and Wales 328 new eel passes were installed over the 2011-13 period, restoring access to over 4200ha of river habitat. In Northern Ireland the key step to improve eel habitat has been the installation of an eel pass in the River Lagan in 2014-5. In Scotland 8 obstructions to eel migration have been addressed with more being considered. Work is continuing to implement further such measures across the UK where necessary.   Improvement and restoration of wider aquatic environment, which should benefit eel, is also being undertaken through implementation of River Basin Management Plans across the UK.

Agriculture: Apprentices

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether Government funding has been allocated to increase the number of apprenticeships in the food, farming and agri-tech sector.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding her Department plans to allocate to contributing to achieving the Government's target of three million more apprenticeships by expanding apprenticeships in the food, farming and agri-tech sector.

George Eustice: The Government’s commitment to treble the number of apprenticeships in food, farming and agri-tech is a key part of the Government’s overall programme to increase apprenticeships, which is led and funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. The future funding of apprenticeships will, as with all Government expenditure be considered as part of the next Spending Review. Our priority is to grow the number of apprenticeships and we will fund accordingly.

Agriculture: Apprentices

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many apprenticeships will be created at (a) intermediate, (b) advanced and (c) higher level in the food, farming and agri-tech sectors in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

George Eustice: The Government does not have targets for intermediate, advanced or higher level apprenticeships. Apprenticeships are real jobs with training. The locations and sectors where apprenticeships are available are determined by employers offering opportunities. The Food and Drink Federation recently pledged to increase the number of level 3 apprentices in food and drink manufacturing by 20% by 2017.

Agriculture: Apprentices

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the food and farming industry on apprenticeships.

George Eustice: The Secretary of State has discussed apprenticeships during a number of meetings with the food and farming industry. We will continue to do so as we take forward proposals for a long-term plan to promote growth in our food and farming sector.

Antibiotics: Livestock

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to tackle the overuse of antibiotics in farms; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Government published its annual progress report and implementation plan for the UK five Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy in December 2014. This includes the further measures on animal health to be taken over the next four years to respond to the risk of antibiotic resistance and to promote the responsible use of antibiotics. The Government continues to work with a number of industry bodies to encourage the development of prescribing guidelines to optimise prescribing practices and foster good stewardship of antibiotics.

Neonicotinoids

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government has any discretion in the imposition of the EU-level ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in the UK; what assessment the Department has made of the impact of any use of such pesticides on the UK's bee population since the publication of An assessment of key evidence about neonicotinoids and bees, DEFRA, published in March 2013; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Decisions on the approval of pesticide active substances are made at European level. Since December 2013, three of the five currently approved neonicotinoids are not permitted for use on a wide range of crops considered “attractive to bees”. A number of other uses remain permitted under the EU approval. The restrictions currently in place for neonicotinoids are not time-limited. The European Commission gave an undertaking to commence a review of the science on neonicotinoids by the end of May 2015. This process has now commenced. Companies have provided further studies and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has invited any party to submit relevant data, including published studies, by 30 September 2015.

Food

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding her Department has allocated to delivery of the Government's 25-year plan to grow, buy and sell more British food.

George Eustice: This Government is committed to working with industry to develop a long-term plan to grow our food and farming industry. The plan will set out how British food and farming can become a world leader: innovative, competitive, profitable and resilient. Any future funding to deliver the plan will, as with all Government expenditure, be considered as part of the next Spending Review. It will build on the extensive support across Government for innovation and research, skills and apprenticeships, and export promotion.

Common Agricultural Policy

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her priorities are for reforming the Common Agricultural Policy; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Our immediate priority, over the next year, is to simplify the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Reducing the administrative burden of the CAP on farmers is a necessary part of increasing the competitiveness of our food and farming sector.   We have pushed hard in the EU for reforms such as a review of the greening rules which place unnecessary burdens on farmers for limited environmental benefits. There is an opportunity to reform the CAP in a positive way for farmers by developing a simpler policy as part of the Commission’s CAP simplification programme.

Marine Conservation Zones

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she expects to complete the network of Marine Conservation Zones.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to designate the second tranche of Marine Conservation Zones.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to designate the third tranche of Marine Conservation Zones.

George Eustice: The Government has made good progress on designating a Blue Belt of Marine Conservation Zones around our coasts. The first tranche of 27 Marine Conservation Zones was designated in 2013, and a consultation on 23 sites proposed for the second tranche closed in April this year. We will designate the second tranche by January 2016. We have committed to completing the network of Marine Conservation Zones, to create a Blue Belt of protected sites around our coasts. Further details on our plans to achieve this will be announced in due course.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to ensure that monitoring data collected on the third year of the badger culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset is made available for independent scientific analysis; and what assessment she plans to make of that analysis as part of her decision on whether the culls should be extended to other areas.

George Eustice: The Government plans to publish monitoring data for the third year of culling in Gloucestershire and Somerset, in line with the position for the first and second years. The Government is committed to our strategy to make England free of bovine TB, of which culling badgers in areas where the disease is rife is a key element.

Dogs: Animal Welfare

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received from charities on the protection and welfare of pet dogs.

George Eustice: The Government has received correspondence from animal welfare charities on a range of dog welfare issues including those associated with breeding, selling and importing dogs.

Dogs: Animal Welfare

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect the welfare of pet dogs.

George Eustice: The welfare of pet dogs in England is protected by a suite of existing legislation including the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and specific laws regulating the welfare of dogs in breeding establishments, pet shops and animal boarding establishments. In order to reduce the amount of time a displaced dog may spend in kennels, it will be a requirement from April 2016 for all dogs to be identified with a microchip. The Government also works closely with animal welfare organisations and certain internet sites to promote more responsible advertising of animals, including dogs.

Animal Welfare Act 2006: Lancashire

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people were convicted under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, sections 4, 8 and 9 by each court in Lancashire in each month between May 2014 and May 2015.

George Eustice: The number of offenders convicted under sections 4, 8 and 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, by each court in Lancashire, in each month from May 2014 to December 2014 (the latest data available), can be viewed in a table which I am arranging to be placed in the House Library.

Pets: Sales

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many advertisements that failed to meet the minimum standards for online pet advertising were removed from pet-related internet sites in each month since January 2014.

George Eustice: Figures from the Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG) show that in 2014, at least 130,000 adverts were removed from those websites which had adopted PAAG’s minimum standards. These figures do not include any adverts that may have been removed or blocked because they breached the websites’ own posting rules. Statistics for 2014 are not available for each month and there are no figures available for 2015.

Neonicotinoids

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to maintain the ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides.

George Eustice: Decisions on the approval of pesticide active substances are made at European level. Since December 2013, three of the five currently approved neonicotinoids are not permitted for use on a wide range of crops considered “attractive to bees”. A number of other uses remain permitted under the EU approval. The restrictions currently in place for neonicotinoids are not time-limited.  The European Commission gave an undertaking to commence a review of the science on neonicotinoids by the end of May 2015. This process has now commenced. Companies have provided further studies and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has invited any party to submit relevant data, including published studies, by 30 September 2015.

Poultry: Animal Welfare

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her policy is on beak trimming of laying hens; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) Regulations 2010 restricts the method used for the routine beak trimming of laying hens to infra-red technology only.Defra is working with the Beak Trimming Action Group, to find ways to manage laying hens without the need to beak trim. A review of all the evidence will be carried out later this year. This will include the study Defra has funded at the University of Bristol to assess the effectiveness of management strategies in reducing injurious pecking in non-beak trimmed laying hens.

Fishing Catches: Salmon

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what salmon netting or trapping stations are operational around the English coast; where they are; and how many salmon were taken by each in each of the last five years.

George Eustice: Relevant information is provided in the Environment Agency’s Salmonid & Freshwater Fisheries Statistics for England & Wales, 2013 report which is available via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/383598/Report2013.v2.pdf Information on the number and location (i.e. area of coast/estuary) of salmon netting and trapping stations in operation in England in 2013 can be found at Table 7 in that report. The salmon catch in each location in 2013 and each of the previous ten years can be found at Table 14. Information for 2014 will be made available in due course.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Nuclear Power: Regulation

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the contribution of the Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change of 17 June 2015, Official Report, columns 108-112WH, what the evidential basis is for the statement that the UK has one of the most robust regulatory regimes in the world for nuclear power.

Andrea Leadsom: The UK regulatory regime is based upon the principle of an independent regulator backed up by sanctions. The Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2006 and 2009 concluded that the regulatory arrangements of the then HSE Nuclear Directorate were mature and transparent, with highly trained, expert and experienced staff. A third and final review in 2013 commended the systematic way in which ONR had taken into account previous recommendations and the significant progress made in many areas, including on engagement with licensees, assessment of emergency preparedness and response capability, and regulatory guidance. A progress mission to the UK was carried out in November 2014, which concluded that the majority of the recommendations could be closed. The 2014 IRRS report also commented that ONR’s progress “represents a significant achievement and demonstrates the UK and ONR’s commitment to high standards of nuclear safety and the benefits of the IRRS process.”Further steps have been taken by the Government to strengthen the UK regulatory regime in the Energy Act 2013, which established the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) as an independent statutory corporation. The Energy Act 2013 also included steps to increase the transparency of nuclear regulation and the accountability of the organisation more generally by statutory requirements to publish and lay before Parliament a five year strategy, an annual plan, an annual report and accounts and for directions made by my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State to be laid before Parliament. Additionally, the ONR publishes an annual assurance statement by the Chief Nuclear Inspector, as part of its annual report and accounts, which is designed to provide independent assurance to the public about the delivery of ONR’s regulatory functions.The UK regulatory arrangements are considered an example to other countries. At the 5th Review Meeting of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management in May 2015, the UK regulatory approach to risk reduction and remediation at Sellafield was recognised as ‘good practice,’ meaning a practice that makes a significant contribution to safety and is applicable to other states with comparable programmes of hazard reduction.

Sellafield

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether it is her policy that high hazard areas of work at the Sellafield site remain a priority.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Magnox Reactors: Decommissioning

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how long it will take to complete decommissioning of Magnox sites on current annual expenditure.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Nuclear Power Stations: Decommissioning

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will raise with the Chancellor of the Exchequer the provision of further research and development tax relief to companies developing innovative technologies to help accelerate the process of decommissioning nuclear sites.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Wind Power: Subsidies

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential effects of withdrawal of subsidies to onshore wind projects on investor confidence in the offshore wind sector.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Wind Power: Planning Permission

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the effect of changes to planning permission for onshore wind projects on investor confidence in the offshore wind sector.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Energy Supply

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what arrangements are in place to determine long-term planning for the UK's energy mix; and what organisation is responsible for ensuring security of supply.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Attorney General

Sentencing: Appeals

Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney General, how many appeals for each category of offence were referred to him by (a) victims or the families of victims, (b) the police, (c) the Crown Prosecution Service, (d) other members of the public and (e) a combination of those people in each of the last three years; and what proportion of each type of referral resulted in a successful appeal.

Philip Davies: To ask the Attorney General, how many and what proportion of appeals against unduly lenient sentences were rejected for being out of time in respect of each category of offence in each of the last three years.

Robert Buckland: The information requested is contained in the following tables.   2012-2013 Offence categoryNumber of sentences referred to AGSuccessful referral (%)Out of time (%)VictimProsecutorPublicArson-1200Burglary12204170Driving deaths3410140Drugs-371140Firearms23-4020Homicide1713201113Fraud24780Violence42046162Robbery3464370Sex144661181Theft1-200Other242583Total59198180  2013-2014 Offence categoryNumber of sentences referred to AGSuccessful referral (%)Out of time (%)VictimProsecutorPublicArson11300Burglary1129145Driving deaths2216100Drugs229130Firearms-32500Homicide9114892Fraud1926118Violence122145170Robbery42610133Sex153176230Theft1-300Other1144754Total491592862014-2015 Offence categoryNumber of sentences referred to AGSuccessful referral (%)Out of time (%)VictimProsecutorPublicArson124140Burglary11512430Driving deaths421300Drugs-206150Firearms-113500Homicide61647144Fraud3617104Violence101751153Robbery-2916280Sex175195221Theft1-100Other171111361Total60180378Explanatory notes:   It only requires a single complaint against a sentence to trigger the unduly lenient sentence referral process. Whilst the Attorney General’s Office may receive multiple complaints against a particular sentence, only the source of the first complaint received is recorded.The police direct their complaints about sentence through the CPS.   A “successful referral” is defined as a referral where the Court of Appeal grants leave to appeal.   “Prosecutor” includes complaints originating from the CPS, SFO, SPA and Local Authorities.

Offences against Children

Henry Smith: To ask the Attorney General, what recent discussions he has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions about the performance of the Crown Prosecution Service in prosecuting child sexual abuse cases.

Robert Buckland: I have regular discussions with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on a wide range of criminal matters, including child sexual abuse (CSA) cases. The prosecution of CSA cases were specifically discussed at a meeting in February this year and the DPP outlined to me how the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is coordinating its response with the police to the Home Office CSA Inquiry.   In October 2013 the CPS issued guidelines setting out a new approach to CSA cases. Steps to be taken include the use of specialist prosecutors, the provision of dedicated CPS units to manage such cases, and the application of a new approach to considering evidence in such cases. In 2014-15, the number of child abuse prosecutions rose by 2,047 to 10,045, the highest volume of cases ever. There were 74.4% convictions in 2014-15, falling slightly from 76.2% in 2013-14, but overall there was a rise in the volume of convictions in the child abuse cases to 7,469 in 2014-15 from 6,096 in 2013-14.

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice: Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of the office space owned or leased by his Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such office space; and if he will place in the Library a copy of his most recent departmental real estate valuation.

Dominic Raab: The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is constantly seeking ways of reducing its rental liability. It is currently engaged in an active programme to rationalise its estate including exiting properties on lease expiry or break option if earlier in accordance with Cabinet Office National Property Controls. Details of MoJ’s vacant properties including the tenure, size and availability, are recorded on the Central Government property database, Epims. These records are available via the following link: www.data.gov.uk/dataset/epims Information on the retail value of unused office space, including that within surplus court buildings, is not collected centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate costs. Information on the valuation of land and property assets is available in the Ministry of Justice Report and Accounts via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministry-of-justice-annual-report-and-accounts-2014-to-2015

Open Prisons

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether an internal review has taken place of the Parole Board's decision to authorise the moving of Alan Wilmot to an open prison; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Selous: Decisions about the transfer of prisoners to open conditions are for the Secretary of State on the recommendation of the Parole Board. In October 2014, the Parole Board conducted a review of its recommendation that Alan Wilmot be transferred to open conditions. Such reviews are undertaken by the Board when serious further offences are committed by those transferred to open conditions or released on parole. The outcome of these reviews is considered by the Parole Board Management Committee. Following the commission of serious further offences by Alan Wilmot and by two other prisoners who had been released in 2013 on temporary licence, the government commissioned an independent review by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons of the decisions to release these three prisoners on temporary licence, as well as a broader review of the system of temporary release to look at how it could be strengthened. Following the recommendations made by the Chief Inspector, the department has overhauled the process for allowing prisoners release on temporary licence, leading to a 39% drop in the number of temporary release failures between 2013 and 2014.

European Court of Human Rights

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many unimplemented judgements of the European Court of Human Rights there have been in each member state of the Council of Europe in each of the last 10 years.

Dominic Raab: Under Article 46 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe is responsible for supervising the execution (or implementation) of a final judgment of the European Court of Human Rights. The information requested is not available for years before 2007, but since then the Committee of Ministers has published an annual report on its supervision of execution of judgments, which provides figures for the number of judgments against each state party to the Convention that remain unimplemented at the end of the year. The annual reports can be found at:http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/execution/Documents/Publications_en.asp In view of the amount of information requested I will write to the honourable Member and arrange for copies to be placed in the libraries of both Houses.

Domestic Violence

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will place in the Library a copy of the course materials and training plans used for the Building Better Relationships programme for male perpetrators of domestic violence.

Andrew Selous: It is not possible to place a copy of the Building Better Relationships (BBR) materials and training plans in the library as this would result in publication of the material. Accredited programme materials, including those relating to BBR, are valuable intellectual property and are protected by Crown Copyright. Access to materials is managed through a licence agreement, which sets out appropriate terms and conditions for use. This approach allows NOMS not only to protect intellectual property, but also to make sure that programme materials are used correctly. Inappropriate use of materials can negatively affect individuals, and can result in an increase in risk of harm. Further guidance regarding Crown Copyright and licences can be found in Prison Service Instruction 2014/46 at the link below:http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/offenders/psipso/psi-2014/psi-46-2014-crown-copyright-and-licences.pdf

Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many and what proportion of cases the maximum sentence for each offence was given in (a) Crown Courts and (b) Magistrates' Courts in the latest year for which figures are available.

Andrew Selous: The information requested could only be collated at substantial cost.

Courts: Fees and Charges

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the monetary value is of criminal courts charges (a) imposed and (b) collected since 13 April 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 requires the court to impose a charge on all adults convicted of a criminal offence. The charge must also be imposed for certain post conviction breach hearings and unsuccessful appeals. The criminal courts charge provisions came into force on 13 April 2015. The government believes that all convicted adult offenders should pay towards the costs of running the criminal courts. It is only fair that offenders, who give rise to the costs of the criminal courts, should share the burden of those costs. Information on the enforcement of financial impositions is routinely contained within an annex to Criminal Court Statistics Bulletin published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice. The data for the period April to June 2015 will be published on 24 September 2015. This will include the monetary values of the criminal courts charge imposed and collected since 13 April 2015.

Alternatives to Prosecution

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the new out of court disposal framework being piloted in West Yorkshire, Staffordshire and Leicestershire; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The pilot commenced on 3 November 2014 and is due to run until 31 October 2015. The Ministry of Justice has appointed a consortium of Ipsos MORI and Sheffield Hallam University to conduct an evaluation of the pilot. The consortium is due to report back in early 2016. The Government will make an assessment of the pilot once it has received the final evaluation report from the consortium.

Domestic Violence: Alternatives to Prison

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what community programmes are available in lieu of prison sentences for (a) female and (b) gay or lesbian perpetrators of domestic violence; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: The National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) work with all offenders to address the factors associated with their offending, including factors associated with their violent behaviour. Depending on the individual offender’s needs, there are a wide range of services in the community to address their offending behaviour and the factors leading to offending. These include emotion management, treatment for substance misuse and mental health, relationship skills, dealing with own victimisation and stress management.

Prison Sentences

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people (a) of each sex, (b) in each age group and (c) who committed each type of offence are in prison under sentence.

Andrew Selous: Sentencing is entirely a matter for our independent courts, which take into account all the facts of each case. The information requested is published in Offender Management Statistics Quarterly, Prison Population Quarterly Tables, Table 1.2b, “Prison population under an immediate custodial sentence by offence group, age group and sex”:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/424896/prison-population-q1-2015.xlsx.

Suspended Sentences

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who committed each type of offence have been sentenced to a suspended term of imprisonment of over 51 weeks since 3 December 2012.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders in (a) Magistrates' Courts and (b) Crown Courts have received a fine for breaching a suspended sentence since 3 December 2012.

Andrew Selous: Sentencing is entirely a matter for our independent courts, which take into account all the facts of each case. The court has discretion to suspend a custodial sentence of two years or less, and it may also impose community requirements on the offender. If the offender breaches the suspended sentence order, either by failing to comply with the requirements or on conviction for a further offence whilst the order is operational, there is a presumption that the custodial sentence will be given effect. If the court decides that it would be unjust to give effect to the custodial sentence it must then either make the order more onerous or impose a fine. Information on the number of suspended sentence orders imposed by the courts in 2013 and 2014, the latest figures, for each offence type is included in Criminal justice system statistics: December 2014 in the Criminal justice statistics outcomes by offence data tool: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/428943/cjs-outcomes-by-offence-data-tool.xls .The data held cannot be broken down to identify reliably the length of the custodial sentences suspended and breach information.

First Offenders: Police Cautions

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of (a) adult and (b) juvenile offenders who committed each indictable offence received a caution for their first offence in each of the last three years.

Andrew Selous: The number of cautions issued by the police has more than halved since 2007. The Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 introduces statutory restrictions on the use of simple cautions for serious offences and repeat offenders. These provisions were implemented in April 2015. The information requested is contained in the table below. Table 1 - Proportion of first time entrants(1) to the criminal justice system for an indictable offence(2) who received a caution, by age group for the 12 months ending December 2012 to the 12 months ending December 2014   Percentage of offenders12 month period to the end of December Juvenile FTEs receiving a youth caution(3)(4)Adult FTEs receiving a caution2012 77.157.92013 74.456.32014 68.751.3(1) Offenders recorded on the Police National Computer by an English or Welsh police force as having received their first conviction, caution or youth caution. Offenders residing only in England and Wales at the time of their caution or conviction are counted. Offences resulting in Penalty Notices for Disorder are not counted as first offences.(2) Indictable offences include triable either-way offences(3) Includes juvenile offenders recorded as receiving a youth caution, previously known as reprimands and warnings.(4) Since 8th April 2013 there have been a number of changes in out of court disposals. The previously known reprimand and warning disposal categories for juveniles have been replaced with a new out of court disposal: The Youth Caution for young offenders. The guidance is published at the link http://www.justice gov.uk/out-of-court-disposals.

Homicide: Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average length of sentence was served by people convicted of murder in each of the last five years.

Andrew Selous: All murder convictions must result in a life sentence and the court determines the appropriate minimum term to be served in custody in each case before the offender can be considered for release on life licence by the Parole Board. The average time spent in custody before release by offenders serving mandatory life sentences for murder has increased from 13 years in 2004 to 17 years in 2014. The average time served in custody by people convicted of murder in each of the last five years is not known. Information is available in relation to offenders serving mandatory life sentences for murder who have been released in the last five years. This is included in the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly, Prison Releases Annual Tables, Table A3.3 “Number of first indeterminate releases and average time served”: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/424903/prison-releases-annual-2014.xlsx .

Youth Courts: Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions magistrates in youth courts have handed down maximum two-year sentences since 2012.

Andrew Selous: The number of young offenders sentenced in the youth court to the maximum 24-month Detention and Training Order is as follows:  201220132014No. of offenders151713

First Offenders: Custodial Treatment

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what (a) number and (b) proportion of first-time offenders who committed each type of offence were sentenced to custody in each year since 2012.

Andrew Selous: Whilst crime is falling, offenders committing serious offences are more likely to go to prison and for longer. Sentencing is a matter for our independent courts, which take into account all the facts of each case. The information requested is contained in the table attached. 



first-time offenders sentenced to custody
(Word Document, 78.5 KB)

Prisoner Escapes

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) absconds and (b) escapes took place from each prison in the last five years; and what offences had been committed by the people who absconded or escaped in each such case.

Andrew Selous: The numbers of escapes and absconds from prison is published here – https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/338951/prison-performance-digest-2013-14.xls The number of escapes and absconds from prison has fallen from 22 escapes and 2,995 absconds in the period prior to April 2009, to 8 escapes and 1,103 absconds in the 5 year period from April 2009 – March 2014. The tables attached show the number of (a) absconds and (b) escapes taking place by prison in the five year period between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2014 together with the offence for which the prisoner was serving a prison sentence when he or she escaped or absconded.



Table showing absconds and escapes, last 5 years
(Word Document, 404 KB)

Fines: Surcharges

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the collection rate was of the victim surcharge in each year since 2010.

Mike Penning: Statistics on collection rates for victim surcharge and other financial impositions from 2011 onwards can be found in the Criminal Courts Statistics quarterly report which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statisticsThe data is not available in this format prior to April 2011.

Bail

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which individual offences were committed by people granted post-conviction bail at a Crown Court who subsequently failed to appear for sentence in the violence against the person category in 2013.

Mike Penning: The table below shows the individual offences in the violence against the person category for which the 26 offenders who were given post-conviction bail at the Crown Court for these offences subsequently failed to appear for sentence in England & Wales during 2013.Offenders granted post-conviction bail at the Crown Court for violence against the person offences who subsequently failed to appear for sentence, by specific offence, England & Wales, 2013  Offence   Statute   Offenders granted post-conviction bail who failed to appear for sentence(1)Making threats to kill Offences against the Person Act 1861 2Wounding etc. with intent to do grievous bodily harm etc. Offences against the Person Act 1861 6Wound / inflict grievous bodily harm without intent Offences against the Person Act 1861 5Assaults occasioning actual bodily harm Common Law and Offences against the Person Act 1861 11Breach of Restraining Order Protection from Harassment Act 1997 1False imprisonment Common Law 1Total   26(1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.  Ref: PQ 3722.

Prisoners' Release

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been released having served no more than (a) half and (b) a quarter of their sentence for offences of each type in each of the last three years.

Andrew Selous: This data is not held centrally and collating it would incur disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Travellers

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which prisons (a) are holding events to mark Gypsy, Roma, Traveller History Month and (b) have organised Traveller days in the last 12 months.

Andrew Selous: Prisons decide locally whether to engage in activities such as Gypsy, Roma, Traveller History Month or whether they organise Traveller days. This information is not held centrally, and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.

Trials: Costs

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average cost is of (a) a jury trial at the Crown Court for (i) either way offences sent by magistrates where their sentencing powers were not deemed sufficient, (ii) either way offences where the defendant chose to elect jury trial and (iii) indictable only offences and (b) a trial in a magistrates' court for (A) summary only offences and (B) either way offences in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Information requested is not currently available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Criminal Records

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he has taken to ensure that courts are aware of the foreign criminal convictions of (a) foreign and (b) British criminals for the purposes of bail and sentencing.

Mike Penning: The Criminal Procedure Rules place the responsibility for alerting the court to any defendant’s previous convictions, both domestic and overseas, whether for the purposes of bail or for the purposes of sentencing, on the prosecutor. Courts must give consideration to that information when it is available but rely on the Police to obtain and provide it.

Prisons: Publications

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many books have been sent to prisoners since 1 February 2015.

Andrew Selous: Data on the number of books sent to prisoners since 1 February 2015 is not held centrally, and could only be collected at disproportionate cost.

Reoffenders: Females

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offences of a violent nature were committed by women who were (a) under a community order or suspended sentence order and (b) on licence for a previous non-violent offence in the last year.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of appeals to the Tribunals Service from appellants in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England relating to (i) personal independence payments, (ii) employment and support allowance, (iii) income support, (vi) jobseeker's allowance and (v) tax credits were successful in (A) each quarter in 2014 and (B) the latest period for which figures are available.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The First-tier Tribunal – Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits. The table below shows the proportion of appeals which were decided in favour of the appellant in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England relating to (i) personal independence payments (PIP), (ii) employment and support allowance (ESA), (iii) income support (IS), (vi) jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) and (v) tax credits were successful in (A) each quarter in 2014 and (B) between January and March 2015, the latest period for which figures are available.   Personal Independence Payments 1Employment and Support Allowance 2  CoventryWest Midlands 4 CoventryWest Midlands Jan – March 2014  %   57%42% April – June2014  %40.0%23.1% 48.4%36.9% July – Sept 2014  %50.0%33.7% 53.2%41.0% Oct - Dec 2014  %32.3%32.1% 61.7%46.1% Jan – March 2015  %49.4%33.5%.57.4%32.6%   Income SupportJobseekers Allowance  CoventryWest Midlands CoventryWest Midlands Jan – March 2014  %8%25% 16%24% April – June 2014  %33.3%24.8% 16.7%16.4% July –Sept 2014  %66.7%29.5% 20.0%27.2% Oct –Dec 2014  %75.0%43.1% 56.5%28.4% Jan – March2015  %20.0%38.8% 47.1%26.2%   Tax credits 3 CoventryWest MidlandsJan – March 2014Total Cleared  Decision in Favour  %11%24%April –June 2014Total Cleared  Decision in Favour  %22.2%19.0%July - Sept 2014Total Cleared  Decision in Favour  %26.5%23.3%Oct –Dec 2014Total Cleared  Decision in Favour  %39.2%24.8%Jan – March 2015Total Cleared  Decision in Favour  %17.0%17.5%%Notes:SSCS data are normally registered to the venue nearest to the appellant's home address. We cannot retrieve data based on the appellants actual address, but can produce reports detailing the numbers of cases that were dealt with at one of our Regional centres or heard at a specific venue.1. Personal Independence Payment (New Claim Appeals) which replaces Disability Living Allowance was introduced on 8 April 2013, also includes Personal Independence Clams (Reassessments)2. Includes Employment Support Allowance and Employment Support Allowance (Reassessments)3. Includes Working Family Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit.4. West Midlands includes the venues: Birmingham, Coventry, Hereford, Stoke, Wolverhampton, Worcester, Shrewsbury, Worcester (Fownes), Kidderminster, Coventry, Worcester (Magistrates Court), Hereford (Magistrates Court)5. Excludes SSCS Scotland processing centre and the following venues Aberystwyth, Bridgend, Cardiff, Caernafon, Carmarthen, Colwyn Bay, Cwmbran, Haverfordwest, Llandrindod Wells, Langstone, Llandudno, Llanelli, Llangefni, Llwynypia, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath, Port Talbot, Newtown, Pontypridd, Pontypool, Prestatyn, Swansea, Welshpool, Wrexham, Bargoed and Ebbw ValeAlthough care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and is the best data that is available.The data may differ slightly to that of the published statistics as this data was run on a different date.

Dental Services: Cosmetics

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were convicted in each magistrates' court in England for carrying out tooth whitening illegally under section 38 of the Dentists Act 1984 in 2014.

Andrew Selous: The Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database holds information on defendants proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences in England and Wales. However, not all offences are individually reported within the centrally held data. Data for offences under section 38 of the Dentist Act 1984 are reported as part of a related group of offences, and it is not possible to separately identify convictions for these specific offences from other offences under the Act. This information may be held by the individual courts in England and Wales and as such it can only be obtained at disproportionate cost

Employment Tribunals Service

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many contested employment tribunal cases there were in England and Wales in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The number of contested employment tribunal claims nationally is published by the Ministry of Justice as Official Statistics (quarterly and annually) on the GOV.UK website. The most recent statistical publication (covering the period up to the end of March 2015) is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2015

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of the office space owned or leased by his Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such office space; and if he will place in the Library a copy of his most recent departmental real estate valuation.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of the office space owned or leased by 10 Downing Street is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such office space; and if he will place in the Library a copy of his most recent departmental real estate valuation.

Matthew Hancock: The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.Since 2010 the Government has been selling unnecessary properties. We have got out of hundreds of properties which were previously under-occupied or superfluous to needs. We now publish more details than ever before on how Departments are using their buildings. Our work to rationalise the Government's property estate has resulted in the exit of 2,018 buildings since 2010, raising £1.4 billion in capital receipts and generating £625 million in running costs savings up to 31 March 2014.The Government residual estate is part of the Cabinet Office. Birch House in Bristol is office space that is currently vacant. The Government Property Unit (part of the Cabinet Office) is working to dispose of this and other unnecessary properties. We are also considering the long term strategy for 36 Whitehall and ensuring the optimum use of this building within the core Whitehall estate. The remainder of the Cabinet Office estate is defined as Core Estate and as such is fully utilised to deliver departmental functions.Information about property valuations for the Cabinet Office's Land and Buildings, which have been audited by the National Audit Office, are contained in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts 2013-14, available from the Libraries in the House and online at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-annual-report-and-accounts-2013-to-2014

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Digital Technology: EU Internal Trade

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Written Statement of 8 June 2015, HCWS17, on the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council, what specific concerns the UK representative raised about the implications of the Digital Single Market for copyright and for funding content.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The UK Government is committed to making the Digital Single Market a reality. Any copyright reform should aim to deepen the Digital Single Market, promoting wider legal access to copyright material and not standing in the way of technological innovation, while continuing to protect and reward creativity. At the meeting of the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council, the United Kingdom highlighted the importance of getting this balance right.

EU Presidency: Luxembourg

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions Ministers and officials in his Department have had with their counterparts in Luxembourg in relation to that country's forthcoming Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Ministers and officials will focus on continued engagement with Luxembourg during their Presidency of the Council of the EU. We look forward to working with them closely over the coming months on their priorities, including the development of the digital single market.

Public Libraries

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 2015 to Question 613, how many libraries were open for 10 hours or more a week in each year between 2010 and 2015; if he will estimate the cost of collecting information on the number of volunteer-run libraries; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The annual library statistics compiled and published, in December each year, by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy indicate that the number of libraries open for 10 hours or more a week in England at 31 March for the years requested is shown in the following table: 31 MarchPublic Libraries Open 10+ Hours per week20103,42820113,39720123,24320133,18120143,142 We are not able to estimate the cost of collecting information on the number of volunteer-run libraries now and on an on-going basis.

Cultural Heritage

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2015 to Question 1896, what representations he has received about creating a cultural protection fund; and what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on such a fund.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Discussions about the creation of a new Cultural Protection Fund have taken place within Government and with key cultural organisations who agree that this measure is needed. These discussions will continue as work to develop the fund progresses.

Broadband: Business Premises

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 June 2015 to Question 611, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the difference between the number of premises with access to superfast broadband and the number of premises using such broadband; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Superfast broadband availability across the UK is approximately 80%, up from 45% in 2010. According to Ofcom, the proportion of connections that are superfast has increased year on year, whilst the total number of broadband connections (standard & superfast) has also steadily increased with over 22.8 million fixed broadband connections in March 2014. The proportion of broadband connections that have speeds of above 30Mbps was 32% in November 2014, up from 1% in November 2010.This lag is in line with the take-up of many new technologies.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Annual Reports

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to publish his Department's Annual Report and Accounts.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport plan to publish the 2014-15 Annual Report and Accounts in mid-July i.e. before Parliament rises for the summer recess (3 1/2 months earlier than the 2013-14 Annual Report and Accounts).

BBC: Royal Charters

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many full-time equivalent officials are working on Charter Renewal.

Mr Edward Vaizey: There are 13 FTE officials working on BBC related matters, which includes Charter Review, supporting the TV Licence Fee Enforcement Review and other work relating to the BBC.

Museums and Galleries: Assets

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the value is of arts assets in the vaults of the museums and galleries which receive grant-in-aid.

Mr Edward Vaizey: DCMS directly provides grant-in-aid funding to 15 museums and galleries and the British Library. These Museums hold their collections in trust for the nation. Museum collections are inalienable in their nature and no overall assessment of their value is made. The historical value of objects acquired since 2002 is disclosed in individual museum reports and accounts. This is not split between items on display and items in storage.

Public Libraries: WiFi

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 June 215 to Question 614, whether the £7.4 million being made available to help all public libraries to install wi-fi is only for the capital cost of installation; what estimate he has made of the average cost of installing wi-fi; and what estimate has he made of the non-capital costs over each of the next five years of providing free wi-fi in the libraries that do not have it.

Mr Edward Vaizey: £7.1m from the £7.4m has been allocated as capital costs, the remaining £0.3m is administrative costs to manage the grant scheme. The estimated figures for the average installation and on-going costs for WiFi will be included in the project specification which will be published at the launch of the scheme in July.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of the office space owned or leased by his Department is not in regular use; what the total (a) rental and (b) retail value is of all such office space; and if he will place in the Library a copy of his most recent departmental real estate valuation.

Mr Edward Vaizey: All of the space in the Department's offices is in regular use. It would not be in the public interest to disclose any specific retail or real estate valuation information, as this information is commercially sensitive and any disclosure could adversely affect the Government’s future ability to negotiate efficiencies and achieve value for money to the taxpayer.

Digital Broadcasting: Hearing Impairment

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made on ensuring digital broadcast media are accessible for people with hearing impairments.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government remains committed to seeing an improvement in the provision of access services for video-on-demand (VoD) services. We have been monitoring progress of the provision of access services for VoD content since 2013 through engagement with the Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD), platform operators and content providers. If ATVOD's 2015 annual survey of VOD Services indicates that significant progress has not been made, then as stated in the Connectivity, Content and Consumers Paper (July 2013) we will consider legislation in 2016.

FIFA: Israel Football Association

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with FIFA on the attempt to expel the Israel Football Association from that organisation.

Tracey Crouch: No discussion have been held with FIFA regarding any attempts to expel the Israel Football Association from the organisation.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Directors

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many non-executive directors of his Department who were in post before May 2015 have since left the Department's board; what the names and length of tenure of such directors were; and how many and what non-executive director appointments he has made since May 2010.

Mr Edward Vaizey: NameTenure (working days)Alexis Cleveland429Ann Green CBE429Sir Peter Bazalgette544Lord Coe469 Appointments since May 2010 NameDate of AppointmentDavid Verey CBEDecember 2010Sir Peter BazalgetteJanuary 2011Lord CoeJanuary 2011Ajay ChowdhuryApril 2013Ruby Gregor-SmithApril 2013 Notes  Information has been sourced from DCMS Annual Report and AccountsWorking days includes any bank holidays in the relevant period

Gun Sports: Young People

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to encourage young people to take up shooting sports.

Tracey Crouch: Sport England set out to invest £1.1 million in British Shooting between 2013-17. British Shooting has a number of programmes encouraging participation including “Get on Target”. It is also working in partnership with the Council for Cadet Rifle Shooting and the Scouts Association. UK Sport supports both Olympic and Paralympic Shooting disciplines, with investment in both for the 2016 Rio Olympics and Paralympics.

BBC: UK Membership of EU

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will discuss with the BBC Trust what steps it plans to take to monitor how the BBC fulfils its campaign on the duty of impartiality during the forthcoming referendum on the UK's EU membership.

Mr Edward Vaizey: I am keenly aware of the importance of coverage of the EU referendum by our broadcasters being impartial and balanced. I have asked the BBC Trust, major commercial broadcasters, and Ofcom to consider the need for the broadcasting regulatory structure to ensure this impartiality is delivered.

Local Press

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to support local newspapers; and if he will make a statement.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to encourage publishing groups to support local papers; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: This Government believes local newspapers have a vital role to play in local communities and in local democracy. We are keen to explore how local newspapers can achieve a long term sustainable future and Government has already committed to consulting on business rates relief for local newspapers, as well as committing almost £1 million to support 24 pilot projects on the future of statutory notices.

Telecommunications: Public Consultation

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department will be publishing a response to its consultation on Reforming the Electronic Communications Code launched on 26 February 2015.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Department received a total of 153 response to the consultation launched in February 2015 on the reform of the Electronic Communications Code, my officials are currently analysing these responses and I will respond to Parliament as soon as possible.

House of Commons Commission

Parliament: Art Works

Justin Madders: To ask the hon. Member for Mole Valley representing the House of Commons Commission, what estimate the Commission has made of the value of all art held on the parliamentary estate.

Sir Paul Beresford: The value of the Parliamentary Art Collection at the House of Commons, as recorded in the published annual accounts for the financial year 2013/14 was £6.7 million. The accounts for 2014/15, to be laid before the House prior to the Summer Recess, will contain an updated valuation.For valuation purposes, the Parliamentary Art Collection at the House of Commons is divided into two categories; those items held as at 31 March 2000 and those items acquired since that date. No valuation for the Collection at 31 March 2000 is currently included on the Statement of Financial Position because obtaining a valuation for a collection of this size and diversity would be costly. During 2012/13, it was decided that the benefit from a valuation exercise would not justify the expense incurred. The House has no plans to conduct such a valuation.Acquisitions since 1 April 2000 have either been made by purchase or donation. Purchases are recorded at cost and donations are recorded at the value current at the date of acquisition, ascertained by the House’s Curator of Works of Art with reference, where possible, to commercial markets using recent transaction information from auctions.